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India Cricket Schedule 2026: ODI, Test & T20I Fixtures From July to December
Every confirmed India men's fixture for the rest of the calendar year, from the Afghanistan white-ball tour through the home Tests and the T20 World Cup build-up.
By Come Sports Newsroom·9 min read
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Where India stand on 21 July 2026
The England white-ball leg is done. India went down 4-0 in the T20I series that ran through the first week of July at Durham, Chester-le-Street, Manchester and Bristol, then moved straight into a three-match ODI series with the senior names back in the side. The third ODI closed the England window on 19 July, and the squad flew out within forty-eight hours. The next ball India bowl in international cricket will be against Afghanistan in the UAE.
That is the cleanest way to read the rest of the calendar. From late July to late November India play eleven bilateral series across all three formats, plus the Asia Cup in the UAE and a stretch of home Tests that BCCI formally announced earlier this month. Twenty-two matches in seventeen cities is the headline number the board has used for the home leg alone.
For fantasy players the practical question is not "when does India play" — the answer is "almost constantly from August to December." The practical question is which stretch of fixtures carries the captain-pick weight that actually moves leaderboard standings, and which stretches are rotation windows where youth cap picks earn their spots. The schedule below is sequenced in the same order the fixtures arrive.
Afghanistan ODIs and T20Is — late July to early August 2026
India travel to the UAE for three ODIs against Afghanistan starting the week after the England ODIs end, followed by a three-match T20I series in the same window. The BCCI squad announcement confirmed that Hardik Pandya has been rested from the ODIs, which opens a seam-bowling all-rounder slot and pushes Shreyas Iyer higher up the batting order when the side needs a fifth bowler option.
The T20I leg carries more fantasy relevance than the ODIs because it sits inside the T20 World Cup 2027 build-up cycle. Selectors have already used the England T20Is to blood new players; the Afghanistan T20Is are the next audition window, and the eleven that takes the field in Sharjah will look meaningfully different from the eleven that lost at Bristol.
Sanju Samson, dropped for the Zimbabwe tour announced on 6 July, has not been recalled. The wicketkeeper rotation between Samson, Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan is the single most volatile selection variable in the T20I side right now, and fantasy teams that lock in a gloveman too early lose the flexibility to swap on the next announcement.
Sri Lanka Tests — August 2026
Two Tests in Sri Lanka follow the Afghanistan leg, both played in Galle and Colombo. The squad was announced on 2 July with a familiar top order — Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli — and a pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Spin depth is the squad's quiet strength, with Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Washington Sundar all named.
These two Tests matter for the World Test Championship standings more than for fantasy points. India sit mid-table on the WTC table after the England series, and a 2-0 win in Sri Lanka keeps the qualification scenarios alive ahead of the New Zealand Tests in October. For fantasy players on Test contests, Sri Lanka away is the cheapest source of bowling points the rest-of-year schedule offers — Sri Lanka's batting at home against quality spin has been below-par since 2024.
A notable absence from the Sri Lanka squad is Ishan Kishan, who has been told to focus on red-ball cricket at domestic level before his next Test recall. The wicketkeeper spot belongs to Rishabh Pant for the two-match series.
Asia Cup T20I — September 2026 (UAE)
The Asia Cup returns to the UAE in September in its T20I format, six months ahead of the T20 World Cup 2027. India are the defending Asia Cup champions and have not lost a T20I Asia Cup tie since 2022. The tournament is eight teams, group stage then Super Four, with the final scheduled at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the third week of September.
For fantasy players the Asia Cup is the second-most important T20I event of the calendar year, behind only the World Cup itself. Points are weighted 2x on Come Sports for the Super Four stage and 3x for the final, which concentrates fantasy interest on the second and third weeks of the tournament. Captain picks against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh carry the highest expected value because those matches produce the most boundary-heavy scores.
The India squad for the Asia Cup will be named after the Afghanistan T20Is close. Selection cues: Suryakumar Yadav leads the T20I side, with Hardik Pandya vice-captain once he is back from ODI rest. Axar Patel is the third spin-bowling all-rounder option and locks in a place; the fourth seam-bowling slot between Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Choudhary and Khaleel Ahmed is the rotation variable to watch.
India A tours and the Nepal T20 assignment
Running in parallel to the senior side, India A are scheduled for two tours before the year ends. The India A men's side plays a T20I series in Nepal starting the week of 13 July — the squad was announced on 10 July — then links directly into the ODI tri-series against Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A that was confirmed on 3 June.
The India A fixture list matters less for senior fantasy contests and more as a selection funnel. Players who perform on the A tours in July and August typically find themselves in the senior T20I squad for the home series against South Africa and West Indies in October. Tracking the A squad list is the cheapest early-warning system for senior squad changes that fantasy players have.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the teenage left-hander Rajasthan Royals blooded in IPL 2026, is on the India A T20 tour of Nepal. His performances there, and in the A ODI tri-series, are the most-watched A fixtures on the rest-of-year calendar. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed earlier in June that the UK leg was the deadline for Sooryavanshi's senior India debut call; the A tours are now his audition reset.
Home Tests — October and November 2026
BCCI announced the 2026-27 home fixtures on 2 July. Twenty-two matches across seventeen cities, beginning in October with two Tests against the West Indies and closing in November with three Tests against South Africa. The West Indies series is the traditional home opener of an Indian Test season; the venues rotate between Eden Gardens, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, MA Chidambaram Stadium and the Narendra Modi Stadium.
The South Africa series carries the most WTC points. South Africa sit above India on the WTC table after the New Zealand Tests in October, and the three-Test home series will likely decide who tops the table heading into the Australia tour early in 2027. India have not lost a home Test series against South Africa since 2017-18, but the current South African pace attack of Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje has historically been India's toughest home Test match-up.
Between the West Indies and South Africa Tests, India play a five-match home T20I series against Bangladesh in the second half of October. This series is the last T20I assignment before the squads are picked for the South Africa T20Is that close the calendar year.
New Zealand white-ball tour — October 2026
Before the Tests against South Africa begin, India tour New Zealand for three T20Is and three ODIs in the first three weeks of October. The full schedule, venues and timings were confirmed by BCCI on 2 June. Three T20Is are played at Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington; the three ODIs shift to Mount Maunganui, Hamilton and Christchurch.
The New Zealand ODIs overlap with the home West Indies Tests on the calendar — India play an ODI in Christchurch on the same day the first West Indies Test begins at Eden Gardens. The squad split is the fantasy-relevant detail. India will field a second-string ODI side in New Zealand, with the senior names reserved for the Tests. Fantasy players on multi-format contests need to read the squad announcement carefully before locking ODI picks for those three matches.
New Zealand's home form in 2026 has been inconsistent. The Blackcaps lost the Test series against England in February, won the ODI series against Pakistan in March, and were beaten 2-1 by Sri Lanka in the T20Is in May. India have not lost an ODI series in New Zealand since 2019.
Women's T20 World Cup 2026 and the parallel fixture window
The Women's T20 World Cup 2026 ran through May and June, hosted in England with Lord's staging the final. India reached the knockout stage under Harmanpreet Kaur, who led the squad announced on 2 May. The men's September Asia Cup and the women's tournament do not overlap, which means selectors, support staff and broadcast attention are not split during either event.
The senior women's squad has a T20I series of its own before the year ends — fixtures to be announced after the World Cup — but the men's schedule above is the spine of the fantasy-relevant rest-of-year calendar. The women's fixtures matter mainly for cross-format fantasy contests that combine ODI and T20I points across both sides.
What this means for fantasy captain picks through 2026
Three patterns hold across the rest-of-year schedule. First, the captain pick weight shifts format by format — T20I captain picks carry the highest expected value in August (Afghanistan) and September (Asia Cup); ODI captain picks carry the highest value in October (New Zealand) when senior names return; Test captain picks carry the highest value in November (South Africa at home).
Second, the squad rotation between the Afghanistan ODIs, Asia Cup, New Zealand ODIs and South Africa Tests means no single player plays all three formats consecutively. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the two exceptions — both are expected to feature across formats where selected. Everyone else rotates. Fantasy teams that pick a single locked XI for the rest-of-year calendar will underperform teams that swap players format-by-format.
Third, the home Tests in October and November are where Come Sports contests carry the highest gross point totals per match. Five-day Tests allow longer captain pick windows, more batting-order stability and clearer weather-driven differentials than white-ball matches.
For daily fantasy, the practical move is to lock India fixtures into your contest calendar now, then re-balance the XI after each squad announcement. The full squad-by-squad schedule, with selection cues and fantasy impact notes for every bilateral series from August to December, is tracked on the Come Sports news desk.
The schedule at a glance
Late July – Early August: India vs Afghanistan, 3 ODIs + 3 T20Is, UAE
August: India vs Sri Lanka, 2 Tests, Galle and Colombo
September: Asia Cup T20I, UAE (full tournament with Super Four and final)
October (first half): India vs New Zealand, 3 T20Is + 3 ODIs, New Zealand
October (second half): India vs Bangladesh, 5 T20Is, India
Late October – Early November: India vs West Indies, 2 Tests, India (4 cities)
November: India vs South Africa, 3 Tests, India (6 cities including Kolkata, Bengaluru and Mumbai)
Late November – Early December: India vs South Africa T20I series, dates and venues TBA
Squad announcements for each bilateral series typically arrive ten to fourteen days before the first match. The BCCI announcement of 2 July confirmed the home fixture skeleton through 2027, but specific Test venues for the South Africa series will be confirmed by the host associations in September. Cross-format rotation, Asia Cup squad selection and Test squad balance are the three selection variables to track weekly.
India's next ODI is the first of three against Afghanistan in the UAE, scheduled in the week after the England ODI series closed on 19 July 2026. Specific dates will be confirmed by the BCCI and the Afghanistan Cricket Board within seven days of the squad announcement.
How many Tests does India play at home in 2026?
India play five home Tests in late 2026 — two against the West Indies in late October and three against South Africa in November. Venues rotate across seventeen cities as announced by BCCI on 2 July 2026.
Will Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli play all three formats in 2026?
Both senior players are expected to feature across ODI and Test formats where selected. The T20I side is being rotated around younger players for the World Cup 2027 build-up, and both Rohit and Kohli have been selective about T20I selection. Specifics will appear in each squad announcement.
Where is the Asia Cup 2026 being held?
The Asia Cup 2026 is being held in the UAE in September in its T20I format. The tournament runs across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah with the final scheduled at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the third week of September.
Is Hardik Pandya playing the Afghanistan ODIs?
No. Hardik Pandya has been rested from the Afghanistan ODI squad as part of workload management. He is expected to return for the Asia Cup T20Is in September as vice-captain to Suryakumar Yadav.
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