The 2026-27 home season already feels crammed, and the schedule is now official. India will welcome West Indies, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Australia between late September and early March, a run that finishes with the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
First, the headline numbers. West Indies arrive on 27 September for three ODIs and five T20Is. Sri Lanka follow in December for three-a-piece white-ball series, Zimbabwe pop over in early January for three ODIs – their first bilateral visit since 2002 – and Australia land a fortnight later for the Test campaign that stretches into early March.
Bengaluru’s return to the rota stands out for obvious, and difficult, reasons. The stampede outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium last June claimed eleven lives and, quite rightly, forced a complete rethink of crowd-management at the ground. After months of upgrades and new safety protocols, the city hosts West Indies for the fifth T20I on 17 October and Sri Lanka for the second ODI on 16 December. The fixtures are being described by local officials as “a cautious step forward rather than business as usual”.
Several centres pick up two internationals apiece. Guwahati, Hyderabad, Ranchi and Ahmedabad join Bengaluru in that bracket. Guwahati, in particular, is rapidly shedding its ‘new-to-Tests’ label: having debuted in the format last November, it will now stage the third Australia Test in mid-February.
There is a curiosity — and potential controversy — around Delhi hosting the opening ODI against Sri Lanka on 13 December. The capital’s air quality traditionally nosedives in mid-winter, a fact that left players visibly distressed during the 2017 India-Sri Lanka Test. Last season the BCCI swapped fixtures to dodge the worst of the smog; this time they are gambling on an earlier December date doing the trick.
Elsewhere, Kolkata and Mumbai claim an ODI each when Zimbabwe come calling. For the record, Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi and Ahmedabad share the Border-Gavaskar Tests, the final one ending on 7 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Full fixture list
West Indies in India
ODIs: Thiruvananthapuram (27 Sep), Guwahati (30 Sep), New Chandigarh (3 Oct)
T20Is: Lucknow (6 Oct), Ranchi (9 Oct), Indore (11 Oct), Hyderabad (14 Oct), Bengaluru (17 Oct)
Sri Lanka in India
ODIs: Delhi (13 Dec), Bengaluru (16 Dec), Ahmedabad (19 Dec)
T20Is: Rajkot (22 Dec), Cuttack (24 Dec), Pune (27 Dec)
Zimbabwe in India
ODIs: Kolkata (3 Jan), Hyderabad (6 Jan), Mumbai (9 Jan)
Australia in India – Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Tests: Nagpur (21-25 Jan), Chennai (29 Jan-2 Feb), Guwahati (11-15 Feb), Ranchi (19-23 Feb), Ahmedabad (3-7 Mar)
Looking wider, the season offers selectors a chance to rotate bowlers before the Champions Trophy in Pakistan next October, and gives India’s fringe batters exposure against differing attacks. Equally, the multi-format workload will test domestic curators; five Test venues in 46 days is a fair ask even on proven squares.
All told, it is a packed but sensible itinerary. The real talking points – safety in Bengaluru and winter air in Delhi – will need vigilance, not just promises, once the first ball is bowled.
