INDIA VS AUSTRALIA TEST SERIES, 2008

Two cricketing giants - Kangaroos and our own Men in Blue will be face to face with each other on October 9, 2008 at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore The Test series which will span for a month, October 9 - November 9, 2008 has four test matches, played in varied corners of India. The first test match will be played in Bangalore while the second will be in Mohali. For the third on field battle teams will be in Delhi while the city of Oranges - Nagpur- will host the fourth and final test match of the series. More...

The first Test match of the series, with many first and probably the equal no of lasts, is significant in more than one aspect. This is the first time the world no. 1 cricket team - Australia - will be playing without its trump cards - Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist- together. It means the visitors will be on field without even a single experienced bowler. This may cost Australia heavily and can prove a good opportunity for India to level its scores.

India will be having the advantage of home turf but this does not put off the uncrowned cricketing czars. Ricky Ponting, Stuart Clark and Bret Lee are some of the cricketers who can change the pace of the match in just a matter of few moments. As Sourav Ganguly has decided to retire from the field, this is for the last time, world is witnessing all the five stalwarts of Indian cricket - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Anil Kumble- together. Inclusion of Harbhajan Singh, who has the record of giving a tough time to the Australian skipper - Ricky Ponting- can add on to the chances of India but the team does not have a good record to boast off in the recent past, especially in Bangalore.

TEST SCHEDULE

TEST	DATE	VENUE
FIRST TEST	9^th - 13^thOctober	Bangalore
SECOND TEST	17^th - 21^st October	Mohali
THIRD TEST	29^th Oct - 2^nd November	Delhi
FOURTH TEST	6^th - 10^th November	Nagpur