India will play the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra for a two-day pink-ball warm-up match prior to the day-night Test match against Australia in Adelaide. Between the first and second Tests, on November 30 and December 1, Manuka Oval will host the floodlit game.
The Prime Minister’s XI fixture usually is a four-day match, which in the last two seasons featured West Indies in 2022 (which was also a day-night game) and Pakistan in 2023. This season, however, the India game is trimmed into a two-day match.
India lost the day-night Test in Adelaide by eight wickets during their last tour of Australia in 2020–21 after being bowled out for their lowest Test score of 36 in the second innings. However, they famously bounced back to win the series 2-1 in Brisbane with a performance for the ages and against all the odds.
Collectively, India has only played four day-night Test matches; the most recent was at Bengaluru, India, in 2022 against Sri Lanka. Australia, on the other hand, has played twelve, all at home; their only loss with the pink ball was in Brisbane last season, when they lost by eight runs to the West Indies.
The Prime Minister’s XI has been a formidable squad that has essentially functioned as an Australia A team in recent seasons. Matt Renshaw has been extremely successful in the last two matches against Pakistan and the West Indies, scoring 81, 101, and 136 not out.
Before the first Test on November 22, India will have intrasquad warm up game at the WACA from November 15–18. Following a three-match home Test series against New Zealand, they will head to Australia. In late October, aa India A will go to Australia to play two four-day matches in Mackay and Melbourne.