India and Australia will renew their rivalry Down Under in a four-Test series and a triangular one-day tournament, with Zimbabwe as the third team, in December.

The first Test will be played in Brisbane, from December 4 to 8, followed by matches at Adelaide (December 12-16), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 2-6), according to the tour programme released by the Australian Cricket Board on Wednesday.

The VB one-day series will begin on January 9 and end with a third final, if necessary, on February 10.

Each team will play the other two teams four times in the league stages of the tri-series and the top two teams will feature in a best-of-three final.

Australia will also play a two-Test series with Zimbabwe in October, the first time that international cricket will be played in that month in Australia. There will be no international cricket in Australia in November, when the Aussies are expected to travel to India to play a triangular one-day series involving India and New Zealand.

India had lost all their three Test matches on their previous tour of Australia in the 1999-2000 season and won just a single match out of the eight played in the VB series, which had Pakistan as the third team.

However, India extracted sweet revenge on Australia's return tour in 2001, when they ended the Aussies' world record of 16 consecutive Test victories following a historic comeback win at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The itinerary:

Dec 4-8: First Test - Brisbane

Dec 12-16: Second Test - Adelaide

Dec 26-30: Third Test - Melbourne

Jan 2-6: Fourth Test - Sydney

VB one-day series: Australia, Zimbabwe, India

Jan 9: India vs Australia (D/N) - Melbourne

Jan 11: Australia v Zimbabwe (D/N) - Sydney

Jan 14: India v Zimbabwe - Hobart

Jan 16: Australia v Zimbabwe - Hobart

Jan 18: India v Australia (D/N) - Brisbane

Jan 20: India v Zimbabwe (D/N) - Brisbane

Jan 22: India v Australia (D/N) - Sydney

Jan 24: India v Zimbabwe (D/N) - Adelaide

Jan 26: Australia v Zimbabwe (D/N) - Adelaide

Jan 29: Australia v Zimbabwe (D/N) - Melbourne

Feb 1: India v Australia - Perth

Feb 3: India v Zimbabwe (D/N) - Perth

Feb 6: First Final (D/N) - Melbourne

Feb 8: Second Final (D/N) - Sydney

Feb 10: Third Final (D/N) if required - Brisbane.