A significant fallout of Team India's twin triumphs of 1971 was an increase in the volume of international cricket. Starting 1974-75, India played at least one Test series, either at home or away, every season. The 1979-80 season marked the culmination of this upsurge. India's most hectic home season till that point witnessed as many as 13 Test matches, split between three touring sides.

For the Indian players, the 1979-80 season was an extension of the previous one. A historic tour of Pakistan had been followed by a six-Test series at home against the West Indies, after which the team flew to England for the second World Cup and a four-Test tussle. In fact, the Indian team was still in England when Kim Hughes's Australians arrived for a six-Test contest in August 1979. Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket, which had run parallel to 'establishment' cricket for two seasons, had been disbanded by then, but the Australian selectors still chose not to pick the cricketers who had been a part of WSC.