Latest India National Cricket Team Schedule 2026: Easy Guide Full Fixtures & Venues

All you will know in the India National Cricket Team Schedule is nothing less than breathtaking. Defending a T20 World Cup crown on home soil, followed by arduous red-ball tours to Sri Lanka and New Zealand, it is no secret that the Men in Blue are facing up to one of the most exacting cricket calendars in living memory. And whether you are a die-hard fan who is tracking every India next match date & time, looking to plan your picks for fantasy cricket or simply an enthusiast. 

This detailed manifestation of the complete 2026 India cricket schedule covers everything from dates and venues to rivals and stakes.

India National Cricket Team Schedule 2026

Date/Month	Series/Tournament	Match Type	Venue
11 Jan 2026	India vs New Zealand	1st ODI	Baroda
14 Jan 2026	India vs New Zealand	2nd ODI	Rajkot
18 Jan 2026	India vs New Zealand	3rd ODI	Indore
21 Jan 2026	India vs New Zealand	1st T20I	Nagpur
23 Jan 2026	India vs New Zealand	2nd T20I	Raipur
25 Jan 2026	India vs New Zealand	3rd T20I	Guwahati
28 Jan 2026	India vs New Zealand	4th T20I	Visakhapatnam
31 Jan 2026	India vs New Zealand	5th T20I	Thiruvananthapuram
Feb–Mar 2026	ICC Men’s T20 World Cup	Group & Knockout Matches	India & Sri Lanka
Jun 2026	India vs Afghanistan	1 Test	Bengaluru
Jun 2026	India vs Afghanistan	3 ODIs	Jaipur, Mohali, Lucknow
Jun 2026	Ireland vs India	T20I Series	Dublin
Jul 2026	England vs India	5 T20Is, 3 ODIs	Southampton, Birmingham, Manchester, London
Jul 2026	Zimbabwe vs India	T20I Series	Harare
Sep–Oct 2026	India vs West Indies	3 ODIs, 5 T20Is	Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Dharamshala
Oct–Dec 2026	New Zealand vs India	Multi-Format Series	Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch
Dec 2026	India vs Sri Lanka	3 ODIs, 3 T20Is	Mumbai, Pune, Cuttack, Indore

A Season Built on Triumph: The 2025 Foundation

Before going through the India cricket team schedule 2026 in detail, it is important to know what the performance of this Indian Team looks like heading into this year. India capped off 2025 like a fabulous sequel to a world class movie, by winning both the ICC Champions Trophy and Asia Cup. They had played the Champions Trophy in Pakistan which they won comfortably all their matches in Dubai and eventually beat New Zealand in the final that ensured the dominance of the side in white-ball cricket. 

The title at the Asia Cup added to more silverware in what was perhaps India’s best bilateral year for many years.

But that momentum also raised expectations through the roof. That golden standard will be the ultimate yardstick for every next match-team India play this season and skipper Suryakumar Yadav along with head-coach Gautam Gambhir is under tremendous pressure to keep that winning-feel alive across all formats.

January 2026: New Zealand Tour of India (Home White-Ball Series)

The India cricket team schedule 2026 began with a tour in the white-ball bilateral series against New Zealand touring here. In the third week of January, the Kiwis came over for three ODIs and five T20Is — a dual-purpose series that would provide India with some much-needed home match preparation as well as New Zealand doing what they could to best prepare themselves for the forthcoming T20 World Cup.

The ODI leg was held on January 11, 14 and 18 at Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara, Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot and Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. India came out all guns blazing at home in the 50-over format.

The T20I section shifted through Nagpur, Raipur, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram beginning January 21. When cricket fans scanned the India match fixture schedule in January this year, few would have believed that the series with South Africa would end up being a potent cocktail of power hitting and strategic responses to improve both teams for their ICC Men T20 World Cup squads; if indeed it was a final warm-up. 

India’s record at home in T20Is has been a formidable one and with the BCCI cricket calendar working wonders to provide them as much home advantage as possible leading into 2026.

Also read this: FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers | How Many Sessions in Test Cricket | DLS Method in Cricket

February–March 2026: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (Home Soil)

February-March hosted ICC Men’s T20 World Cup co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka The jewel for the entire 2026 cricket schedule in India was without a doubt the ICC Mega Event (Image on top: san diego cc/flickr, CC BY-SA 2.) It was a once in three decades experience for the Indian cricket fans — T20 World Cup on India soil after the dream run in 2016 (which West Indies won stunningly after an improbable last over chase).

This time, Suryakumar Yadav’s side came to the tournament as defending champions after winning the trophy in Barbados in 2024, then under Rohit Sharma. And India had a total of four group stage fixtures including another nail-biting T20 World Cup 2026 encounter between arch-rivals India and Pakistan that kept the nation glued onto their TV sets once again. Cricket’s expanding global scope was enhanced in part by the group-stage games they played against the USA.

India will march through the tourney with style. They sliced through the knockout stages and in a thrilling finale at Ahmedabad, India beat New Zealand by 96 runs after racking up 255/5 and then dismissing the Kiwis for a mere 159 in just over19 overs. The outcome reaffirmed India as back-to-back T20 World Champions and with the World Cup hosted at home, the celebrations were on a different loft altogether. 

Venues all over India and Sri Lanka had reverberated for weeks, and the final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad would become a defining moment in Indian cricket.

This was the series that made all those sleepless nights and each bated breath worthwhile for anyone who followed the India T20 schedule through Feb and March.

March–May 2026: Indian Premier League (No International Fixtures)

Post World Cup, Indian cricket’s international schedule was kept on standby as the Indian Premier League 2026 dominated March-May. There were no international games scheduled in this window, which provided players with an opportunity to rest, play franchise cricket and stay sharp.

In 2025 RCB already won its first IPL title in history. There remained a hotbed for young stars in the 2026 copy. Prince Yadav, who played for Lucknow Super Giants took 16 wickets and has been selected in the India squad to tour England Suryansh Shedge also impressed to get a maiden national call-up. The IPL, like every year, acted as a talent identification conveyor belt straight into the India cricket tour calendar.

June 2026: Afghanistan Tour of India

India are scheduled to tour England later this year and a brief but vital home project was slotted in just before them — Afghanistan’s tour of India. India thumped Afghanistan in a one-off Test match at New Chandigarh back in early June, losing the first innings 564/8 declared to 152, and then dismissing their opponents for just 112 again, winning by an innings and 300 runs.

A one-day leg then ensued, consisting of two ODIs in Dharamsala and Lucknow. In the opening match in 7 wickets and most recently with a record 170 run win scoring 402 in ODI two to highlight their heavy batting order, India achieved comfortable victories. With regards to the India ODI schedule, June served as a lighting rod for warm-ups that provided fringe international experience before the England tour.

July 2026: India Tour of England — T20Is and ODIs

The India tour of England 2026 is the series which fans have been marking their calendars with months in advance. Men in Blue then travelled to England, where they played five T20Is and three ODIs – eight exciting white-ball matches across some of the most recognised cricket venues around the world.

The two teams competed in a T20I series, which commenced on 1July at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street. The second T20I came next at Old Trafford, Manchester on July 4. The 3rd T20I will take place at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on July 7th. Four matches took place at the County Ground, Bristol from July 9 – 4th T20I and The Rose Bowl in Southampton on July 11 – 5th T20I.

Shreyas Iyer was captain of the team batting first in the T20 schedule July 2026 between India vs England, and Tilak Varma vice-captained. There was an interesting mix of youth and experience in the squad as Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Shivam Dube Suryansh Shedge made his debut: Suryansh came in for Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was ruled out due to a left quadriceps injury on 23 Jun.

This was followed by an ODI series which included matches at Edgbaston on July 14, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on July 16 and the most famous ground in world cricket : Lord’s Cricket Ground (19th July). Pohamba Magano (left) made his ODI debut before the groups took half within the Lord’s ODI, a match that was intently watched  it was a significant part of India’s early preparation for his or her 2027 ODI World Cup, to be staged in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. 

All India cricket fixtures in the ODI format line up as World Cup warm-ups this year and you always want to be pushed against England away from home – one of the biggest white-ball challenges around.

There was no Jasprit Bumrah, India’s lead seamer, for the England white-ball leg where trips were shared by Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana batting alongside Prasidh Krishna and Prince Yadav — a pace attack made in heaven for seam-friendly conditions of England.

August 2026: India Tour of Sri Lanka (Two-Test Series — WTC)

In August, the India Test schedule was renewed attention after the England tour which had white-ball mania. India went on a two-match red-ball series in Sri Lanka, which was part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025–27 cycle. India, whose hopes of qualifying for the WTC in 2025 suffered a blow with a home series loss by a margin of 0–2 to South Africa last year, stands to gain maximum points.

The Sri Lanka Tests were a chance to regain lost ground in the World Test Championship (WTC) in subcontinental conditions that are far familiar but on occasions grueling. And then there is red-ball cricket — of the turning tracks and tropical humidity in Colombo and Galle, to the spinners that are bred on these tracks. India’s spin trio of Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar was always going to be key. 

Every test series that India plays this year is essentially a direct qualification for the next WTC Final for the Men in Blue.

September–October 2026: Asian Games, Aichi and Nagoya, Japan

The return of cricket to the Asian Games presented India with one more title to defend. The 2026 Asian Games were held in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan from September 19 to October 4. An ICC full-strength men’s T20I tournament produced another form of competition — with far shorter schedules, largely unknown opposition and massive national pride at stake.

India also won gold in the 2023 Asian Games which was held in Hangzhou, China. The squad for Japan was expected to be a combination of seasoned stars and promising young talent, with Jasprit Bumrah back to lead the tempo assault after being rested from the England visit. The Asian Games assignment showcases not only cricket’s growing global reach but also India’s leadership role in fostering that growth.

October–November 2026: India Tour of New Zealand (Full-Format Series)

After the Asian Games, it was time for one of India’s most extensive overseas assignments of the year — a full-format tour of New Zealand in October and November. It comprised two Test matches, three ODIs and five T20Is in the tour.

The Test leg —involving the second cycle of the World Test Championship or WTC 2025–27— was especially important. A two-Test series at venues such as Wellington and Christchurch would challenge India’s technique against pace and swing in a hostile environment, with their record in New Zealand providing scant comfort from the past. The second Test was played in Christchurch from November 27 to December 1.

It had an ODI component and a T20I component — three ODIs and five T20Is that was also vital in providing another layer of preparation for India’s white-ball campaign in 2027. The New Zealand tour is a sort of assignment where good teams prove great: different pitches, flappy conditions, and a team playing out of its skin against the world champions.

December 2026: Sri Lanka Tour of India (Home Series Wrap-Up)

India rounded off their 2026 international commitments at home with a three-match ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka. The ODIs were set for December 13 in Delhi, December 16 in Bengaluru and December 19 in Ahmedabad. The series started with the T20I leg in Rajkot on December 22, running through to the festive season.

There was no better time to tinker with combinations for 2027, shuffle soon-to-be-37s like Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli out if necessary and expose the next generation here given it is the Sri Lanka tour of India. And for fans who were following the India cricket series calendar all the way into December, it not only provided a rousing dose of competitive cricket that was also as close to home as could be during the local festive season but put an emphasis on closing out quite simply one of their best years yet.

The Bigger Picture: What 2026 Means for Indian Cricket

However, if we have to take a step back and look at the complete India cricket team schedule 2026, here are some key observations:

• T20 World Cup Title Defense: In the Ahmedabad final, India defended the title at home against New Zealand. With Suryakumar Yadav leading the way and his teammates chipping in with some staggering individual displays, India put together a tournament to remember one that is already being hailed as the greatest home World Cup triumph ever.
  
• World Test Championship Race was an actual WTC points herov with four away Tests against Sri Lank and New Zealand. These tours became non-negotiable from a qualification perspective after the set back to South Africa in 2025.
  
• 2017 ODI World Cup preparations: In 2016, India played around 18 ODIs out of which there were the New Zealand home series, England tour, Afghanistan series and the Sri Lanka home series. Each contest was a steppingstone for the perfect World Cup 50-over XI in South Africa 2027.
  
• Workload management: the BCCI and team management were led by pragmatism while drafting a calendar which takes care of sustainability through careful planning allowing for recovery time such as during the IPL window (March–May) with Bumrah being one of the leaders rested selectively in the white-ball tour against England.
  
• Bench strength: Suryansh Shedge and IPL performers like Prince Yadav showed that the India cricket bench is long, strong and ready to put up their hands if senior players are rested or injured. That depth is a silent but vital chapter in the cricket story of India 2026.

Final Word

The 2026 India national cricket team schedule only goes to show how pivotal Indian cricket is in the global context. 2026 meant everything for every blue blooded player, starting at the T20 World Cup winning high and ending on the grind of Test cricket in Sri Lanka & New Zealand, from a blockbuster England tour to the first-of-its-kind Asian Games in Japan. 

You have gone through with the Sri Lanka home series on December end, one thing you can’t miss out is that the Men in Blue aren’t merely holding their own ground — they’re setting the stage for a dynasty that will last well into 2027 and beyond.

FAQs