With a home T20 World Cup already banked for 2026, the remaining months of the year are less about trophies and more about squad-building, rankings and World Test Championship points.
The Asian Games
Cricket’s return to the Asian Games in Aichi, Japan, from September 24 to October 3, carries real weight for India, who defend the gold medal won at Hangzhou 2023 under new T20I captain Shreyas Iyer. Full squad and format detail is in our roundup of India’s biggest cricket matches to watch in 2026.
India’s Home Stretch
- The ongoing white-ball tour of Bangladesh, running through September 13
- A rescheduled T20I series against Afghanistan in Delhi
- A five-week home series against West Indies, spanning three ODIs and five T20Is
- A home series against Sri Lanka in December
World Test Championship Business
Away from India, the current WTC cycle keeps grinding forward. Australia’s Test and ODI tour of South Africa, running September 24 to October 31, carries direct WTC points implications, as does the wider run of fixtures tracked in our international calendar for 2026-27.
Why These Series Matter More Than They Look
None of these carry a trophy on the line the way the T20 World Cup did, but each one shapes squad depth, ICC rankings and World Test Championship standings heading into a much bigger 2027, which includes the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and preparations for the next ODI World Cup.