International cricket returns to Chinnaswamy Stadium in busy 2026-27 season

Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi and Ahmedabad will host the five Tests of the 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. West Indies will play three one-day internationals and five T20Is from September 27 to October 17, Sri Lanka will play three one-day internationals and three T20Is from December 13 to 27, Zimbabwe will play three one-day internationals from January 3 to 9, and Australia will play five Tests from January 21 to March 3. 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 the first time since the stampede last June that led to the 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. One of the five venues that will host two international matches this season is Bengaluru. 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 the 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. Among other major venues in India, Kolkata and Mumbai will host an ODI each against Zimbabwe, on January 3 and 9 respectively.