International cricket returns to Bengaluru

Zimbabwe are set to embark on their first bilateral tour of India since 2002

Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi and Ahmedabad will host the five Tests of Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which will end a busy 2026-27 home season for India, in which they are set to host as many as four bilateral tours. The four teams touring are West Indies (three ODIs and five T20Is from September 27 to October 17), Sri Lanka (three ODIs and three T20Is from December 13 to 27), Zimbabwe (three ODIs from January 3 to 9) and Australia (five Tests from January 21 to March 7).

Zimbabwe's visit will be their first for a bilateral series in India since 2002.

The season will also mark Bengaluru's return to hosting international cricket for first time since stampede last June that led to loss of 11 lives outside Chinnaswamy Stadium. The ground will host the fifth T20I against West Indies on October 17 and the second ODI against Sri Lanka on December 16.

Bengaluru is one of five venues that will host two international matches over the season. The others are Guwahati (second ODI against West Indies and third Test against Australia), Hyderabad (fourth T20I against West Indies and second ODI against Zimbabwe), Ranchi (second T20I against West Indies and fourth Test against Australia) and Ahmedabad (third ODI against Sri Lanka and fifth Test against Australia).

Guwahati, which hosted its inaugural Test in November 2025, is set to host a Test match for a second consecutive season.

One notable fixture on the list is first ODI against Sri Lanka in Delhi, which is scheduled for December 13. Over recent years, Delhi has experienced severe air pollution in the winter months, with an India-Sri Lanka Test in 2017 marred by players experiencing breathing difficulty and nausea. Last year, the BCCI originally scheduled a Test match in Kolkata against West Indies in October and one against South Africa in Delhi in November. Those fixtures were later swapped to allow Delhi to host the match that occurred before the pollution spike that typically occurs around the time of Diwali.

India's 2026-27 home fixtures

Three ODIs vs West Indies Thiruvananthapuram (September 27), Guwahati (September 30), New Chandigarh (October 3)

Five T20Is vs West Indies Lucknow (October 6), Ranchi (October 9), Indore (October 11), Hyderabad (October 14), Bengaluru (October 17)

Three ODIs vs Sri Lanka Delhi (December 13), Bengaluru (December 16), Ahmedabad (December 19)

Three T20Is vs Sri Lanka Rajkot (December 22), Cuttack (December 24), Pune (December 27)

Three ODIs vs Zimbabwe Kolkata (January 3), Hyderabad (January 6), Mumbai (January 9)

Five Tests vs Australia Nagpur (January 21-25), Chennai (January 29-February 2), Guwahati (February 11-15), Ranchi (February 19-23), Ahmedabad (March 3-7).