New Delhi, 25 December (H.S.): Following a rollercoaster 2025, the Indian men's cricket team faces a grueling 2026 schedule highlighted by defending the T20 World Cup title at home, a flurry of ODIs, and rigorous World Test Championship (WTC) tests abroad on this Christmas Day.
2025 Recap: Triumphs and Transitions
India clinched the Champions Trophy in Dubai with a potent four-spinner strategy, sustained T20I success via bilateral series, Asia Cup victory, yet elusive T20 World Cup glory . Test cricket yielded mixed results—a 3-1 Border-Gavaskar Trophy loss in Australia ended WTC final hopes, prompting retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Cheteshwar Pujara; Shubman Gill assumed Test captaincy, later ODIs, amid a 2-2 England draw, 2-0 home win over West Indies, but 3-0 New Zealand and 2-0 South Africa defeats exposed batting instability and planning gaps.
T20 World Cup Spotlight and Early Fixtures
T20 focus dominates early 2026, starting with New Zealand's tour for three ODIs and five T20Is, culminating in the T20 World Cup from February 7 to March 8 co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, where Suryakumar Yadav leads as defending champions eyeing a historic home triumph and third overall title .
Post-tournament and IPL, Afghanistan visits in June for a non-WTC Test and three ODIs, followed by July's white-ball series in England: three ODIs, five T20Is.
Test Challenges and Home Season
WTC duties commence in August with two Sri Lanka Tests on spin-friendly pitches, testing India's bowlers; a probable UAE T20I tri-series against Afghanistan in September, uncertain Bangladesh tour, and second-string participation in Asian Games T20s in Japan (September 19–October 4) precede home ODIs and T20Is versus West Indies in September-October . October-November brings a tough New Zealand tour (two Tests, three ODIs, five T20Is), ending with Sri Lanka's December visit for three each of ODIs and T20Is as 2027 ODI World Cup prep .
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
