Indian cricket may be in the middle or a rare 43-day break but rest assured, once it resumed, an action packed five months await. With a place in the World Test Championship on the line, Team India will be playing as many as nine Tests by the end of this year, starting with a two-Test series against Bangladesh and concluding with a five-Test affair against Australia in the famous Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It's been 33 years since India and Australia last competed in a five-Test series with the 1991-92 tour Down Under marking the last instance. Ever since, barring the 1999 tour which was a three-Test series, India have always played four Tests against Australia on their soil. However, with an extra Test match added, the BGT is expected to be as big as The Ashes, and what better way to kick off arguably the greatest cricketing rivalry of the modern-day era than a full-fledged Test series played across Australia's five Test centres.

Since 2017, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has stayed with India, who is the only team in the history of Test cricket to register back-to-back series wins in Australia. In 2019, under Virat Kohli, India won 2-1, while the 2020-21 tour turned out to be series of epic proportions as India scripted a memorable come-from-behind win to take the series 2-1. However, former captain Ricky Ponting reckons the outcome would be different this time around, in Australia's favour, given then Aussies are back in their comfort zone of playing a five-Test series.

"It's going to be a competitive series and as I said I think Australia's got a bit of a point to prove against India in Australia on the back of what's happened the last the last two series here. We are back to five Tests as well, which is the other really important thing about this series. It’s only been four Tests the last couple of times. Five tests, I think everyone's really excited by that and I don't know if there'd be too many drawn games," Ponting said on the ICC Review Show.

Here's what the India vs Australia schedule looks like

The India vs Australia battle begins on November 22 with Perth's Optus Stadium hosting the series opener, followed by the return of the day-night Test match in Adelaide. The last time India played the pink-ball Test was also in Adelaide – four years ago – where they were bowled out for their lowest total of 36 all out. The action then shifts to Gabba, a fortress India conquered three years ago before the iconic Boxing Day Test at MCG. Sydney's historic SCG will host the final game of the series from January 3, 2025 – India's first Test of the year.

In order to boost their preparations, India will also be playing a day-night warm-up match against the Prime Minister XI ahead of the series. But the bigger picture is something else. With a place in the WTC final on the line, will India be able to pull off which until some years ago was considered impossible – register a hat-trick of Test series wins in Australia? Well, Ponting doesn't think so.

"I'm obviously going to tip Australia to win and I'm never going to tip against Australia. There will be a draw somewhere and there will be some bad weather somewhere, so I'm going to say 3-1 to Australia," he added.

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