India vs Australia 5th Test 2027 Ahmedabad: Preview, XIs, Pitch

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2027 closes at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad with the indicative window pointing at February 21-25, 2027 — formal confirmation pending. Motera is the largest cricket stadium in the world by capacity (132,000) and the most stage-managed venue in India. The 2023 BGT 4th Test at Motera ended in a flat draw on a road of a pitch; the 2024 fixture saw a result-pitch with India winning by an innings. The 2027 instalment will be somewhere in between.

This Test is, almost certainly, Pat Cummins' last Test in India, and possibly Steve Smith's and Nathan Lyon's last as well. The trophy may already be decided. The legacy is not. Either side ending the series 3-2 — particularly if the visitors have come from behind — would re-frame the entire BGT 2027 narrative.

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Match at a glance

• Match: 5th Test, Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2027
• Dates: February 21-25, 2027 (likely; BCCI confirmation pending)
• Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
• Start time: 9:30 AM IST
• Toss: 9:00 AM IST
• Series context: Final Test of 5; BGT 2027 hub
• WTC 2025-27: 12 points; potentially the final qualification arithmetic
• Broadcast (India): Star Sports + Disney+ Hotstar

The series-final at Motera is also the biggest commercial fixture of the Indian summer — full ground capacity, a Friday-Tuesday window that lines up well for weekend traffic, and the closing chapter for a generation of Australian Test cricketers.

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Likely India XI

The 5th Test likely sees the most rotation, depending on series state:

1. Yashasvi Jaiswal
2. Shubman Gill
3. Sai Sudharsan
4. Virat Kohli
5. Rishabh Pant (wk)
6. Sarfaraz Khan (or Dhruv Jurel)
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Washington Sundar
9. Kuldeep Yadav or Sai Kishore
10. Jasprit Bumrah
11. Akash Deep or Mohammed Siraj

If India lead 3-1 or 4-0, Bumrah is rested and Mukesh Kumar or Prasidh Krishna gets a Test cap. Kuldeep rotates with Kishore. Pant remains given his white-ball form going into the 2027 ODI World Cup year.

Captain: Rohit Sharma, almost certainly his last home Test as captain. If India have already won the series, the Motera Test becomes the swansong.

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Likely Australia XI

Australia's 5th Test, particularly if it is a dead rubber:

1. Usman Khawaja
2. Sam Konstas
3. Marnus Labuschagne
4. Steve Smith
5. Travis Head
6. Cameron Green
7. Alex Carey (wk)
8. Mitchell Starc
9. Pat Cummins (c)
10. Nathan Lyon
11. Scott Boland or Matt Kuhnemann

If the series is decided, Australia might give a debut to Cooper Connolly or Beau Webster in the lower middle order. Cummins is unlikely to rest himself in his last Test in India.

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Pitch outlook

Motera in February:

• Day 1: Hard, true bounce. Genuinely flat for batting. First-innings 400+ is achievable.
• Day 2: Surface still good. Slight grip for spinners; minimal reverse for the older ball.
• Day 3: Variable response — Motera curators have been inconsistent. Either a flat road-to-draw or a sudden grip-and-turn surface.
• Day 4-5: If turn arrives by tea on day three, the result is on. If not, draw becomes the dominant outcome.

The Motera unpredictability factor is the biggest variable in this Test. See our Ahmedabad Narendra Modi Stadium pitch report for BGT 2027 for the full red-ball read. For the IPL T20 contrasts, see Narendra Modi pitch report IPL 2026 and the Narendra Modi Stadium batting/bowling profile.

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Key match-ups

Pat Cummins' last spell in India

If this is Cummins' final Test in India, the morning of day one — opening the bowling at Motera with a packed stadium — is the moment. Whether he takes the new-ball wicket or not, the spell is the legacy moment. Australian fans have been waiting for it. Cummins has too.

Steve Smith's last Indian Test innings

Smith's career India average is just under 60. A century in his probable last Test innings on Indian soil writes the closing chapter of one of the great visiting subcontinent careers.

Nathan Lyon vs Rishabh Pant (final?)

The most consistent Indian-vs-Australian Test match-up of the last decade closes here. Lyon needs 8 wickets in this Test to enter the 600-Test-wicket club. Pant needs a hundred to confirm his return to red-ball form.

Jasprit Bumrah vs Australia's top order (final?)

If Bumrah is rotated into this Test (likely, given Cummins is playing), this is the last chapter of the most lopsided rivalry in modern Test cricket — Bumrah's 30+ wickets against Australia in BGT 2023-24-25 cycle reads like fiction.

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WTC 2025-27 implications

After 5 Tests, the WTC qualification math is final:

• India 5-0 or 4-1: WTC final qualified, top of the table.
• 3-2 either way: Razor-edge math, dependent on parallel series in the cycle.
• Australia 3-2 with come-from-behind: Likely WTC final qualified.

The WTC India simulator is the cleanest tool for the final-game scenarios; the WTC 2025-27 cycle explainer provides the framework. The cricket calendar 2026-27 has the parallel WTC fixtures.

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Sub-plot: a generational handover

If this is the last Test for Cummins, Smith and Lyon in India simultaneously, the Australian post-match presentation will be carried in highlights packages for years. Three players who have together won an Ashes, a WTC final (2023), and held this rivalry to a competitive draw across three full BGT cycles. The next Australian Test team in India will be a meaningfully different one. India have their own handover question — Rohit's likely last home BGT, Kohli's likely focus shift toward the 2027 ODI World Cup.

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Weather projection (3-day window)

Ahmedabad in late February:

• Day 1 (Feb 21): 31°C max, 16°C min. Clear, dry, no rain risk.
• Day 2 (Feb 22): Similar. Slight afternoon breeze.
• Day 3 (Feb 23): Stable. Daytime warm, mornings cool.

No rain risk, no swing window of any meaningful kind beyond the first 8 overs. Pure batting weather on day one — toss and bat is the standard call.

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Prediction

Motera depends almost entirely on the curator's brief. If the BCCI wants a result-pitch (e.g., to lock WTC qualification), it can be a 3-day Test. If the brief is a closing-Test stage with full crowd attendance across five days, the draw becomes the most likely outcome.

Given that this is potentially the final Test for the Australian core in India, and given the pull of a result on day five with full stadiums:

Our pick: India to win narrowly, or a high-scoring draw. If a result happens, it favours India by 50-90 runs.

If Smith and Head both contribute on day one and Australia post 450+, the draw is the prediction.

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More cluster reading

• Hub: BGT 2027 hub
• Previous Test: 4th Test Delhi preview
• Pitch report: Ahmedabad Narendra Modi Stadium red-ball pitch report BGT 2027
• WTC context: WTC 2025-27 cycle explainer, WTC India simulator
• Calendar: Cricket calendar 2026-27

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Frequently Asked Questions

When is the 5th Test at Motera? Provisionally February 21-25, 2027. BCCI confirmation pending.

Will Cummins, Smith and Lyon all play their last Test in India here? Likely. None has formally announced retirement, but at 33, 38 and 39 respectively, the next Australia tour of India in 2030 is unlikely to feature all three in red-ball squads.

Is Motera a draw pitch? It can be either way — the 2023 Motera Test was a flat draw, the 2024 fixture was a result Test. The curator's brief drives the surface character.

Does Bumrah play the 5th Test? Likely yes, if fit. India will manage workloads across the series, but the 5th Test has a flagship-finale feel that selectors will want their best XI for.

Is the WTC 2025-27 final qualification decided here? Often yes. The final fixtures of the WTC cycle typically end in late February-early March; the 5th Test result feeds the final PCT calculation.

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The BGT 2027 closes where it has closed twice before this decade — in front of the largest crowd in Test cricket. We will be live across all five days from Motera.