Australia opt against playing practice matches in India ahead of BGT 2027

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald said the visitors will not play any practice matches in India ahead of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2027. Instead, they will have extended training camps tailored to Indian conditions. The upcoming Test series between India and Australia is the first five-match series between the countries in India after 57 years. Australia, however, hasn’t won a red-ball series in India since 2004.

No practice matches before India tour

While the BCCI has made it mandatory for the Indian Team to play a few practice matches before and midway through the Test series against Australia every time they travel, Cricket Australia (CA) has opted against it for the upcoming series. Speaking about Australia’s preparations for the BGT and the remainder of the 2025-27 WTC cycle, McDonald said the team already has plenty of cricket lined up before they visit India, making traditional tour games unnecessary.

"We feel as though we've got enough time to immerse ourselves in those conditions. We won't be taking on a practice game. It'll just be more around the location. We've got a couple of options there. We have gone to the UAE previously, and we have also gone into India last time into Bangalore, so we're just working through what that would look like in terms of how we then manage the individuals," McDonald said in a chat with cricket.com.au.

When will Australia prepare for the BGT?

After returning from South Africa, Australia will host New Zealand for four Tests later this year, and it’s only after that they will begin preparation for the marquee away Test series against India.

"A lot of that would happen on the back of the four Tests against New Zealand, seeing where players are at. We'll potentially have some different players with different skill sets that we believe can perform in India, so it won't necessarily be the squad that finishes the Test series (against NZ) that then heads to India.

There'll be some players that we need to put a little bit more prep into, and that'll start in Australia also, balancing out Big Bash commitments and things like that," he added.

Finding the ‘best training base’ priority for CA

Even though they have opted against playing the practice games, CA will seek the best place in India to train, where the pitches and conditions are closest to what they would likely get during the five-match series.

"Ultimately, if you can have a dedicated venue that you're able to use and replicate as close to the conditions that you believe you may get in the first Test match or throughout a Test series, that's ideally what you want. You case those locations – you want a connection in terms of conditions and climate. We believe we'll get that right in terms of where we go; it just hasn't been confirmed yet,” McDonald noted.

BGT 2027 Full Schedule -