India to tour Australia in January 2016

July 9(Melbourne) India will return to Australia early next year to play the reigning World Champions in a five-match One-Day International (ODI) and three-game Twenty20 International series' from January 12 to 31.

The five ODIs between the world's two highest ranked teams will be played on January 12 (Perth), 15 (Brisbane), 17 (Melbourne), 20 (Canberra) and 23 (Sydney) while the three T20Is will he held on January 26 (Adelaide), 29 (Melbourne) and 31 (Sydney).

Meanwhile, Australia's in-form women's team will also take on India in three ODIs and three T20Is during the same time. The two teams will play the three T20Is on January 26 (Adelaide), 29 (Melbourne) and 31 (Sydney) while the ODIs will be played on February 2 (Canberra), 5 and 7 (both at Hobart). The ODI series forms part of the ICC Women's Championship.

The three women's T20Is will be played as double-headers prior to the men's matches at the venue. The two matches on January 26 are expected to draw large television audiences as it is a national holiday in both countries. The hosts celebrate Australia Day while for Indians it is Republic Day on January 26.

The announcements came as Cricket Australia (CA) on Thursday made public the international and domestic schedule of its teams for the 2015-16 season.

"The World Cup was the biggest sporting event in our country since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Many Australians come from non-cricketing cultures and the World Cup was a great chance for the game to showcase itself and earn new fans from all parts of our increasingly diverse community," CA executive general manager of Operations Mike McKenna said.

"We want to build on this great momentum. Following the World Cup, we are determined that local Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Afghan, Sri Lankan and other overseas-born fans who packed Australia's grounds with good-humoured noise and colour are able to maintain their passion for cricket as part of their adopted Australian lifestyles."

McKenna added: "Then there's the match-up between Australia and India, the world's top-ranked teams in ODI cricket. These teams met in the semi-final of the World Cup in a match which saw more than 300 million fans watching on Star TV in India and we want to continue to build a strong rivalry which will be on show throughout the summer."