The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has unveiled the upcoming edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the 2026-27 season (BGT 2026-27). The board has selected Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi and Ahmedabad as the venues for the 5-match Test series.
A section of cricket fans raised questions on BCCI for not selecting some of the iconic venues in the country like Kolkata’s Eden Gardens and Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. But why did the board leave out these places for the historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy?
BCCI’s ‘unwritten’ policy for selection of venues
BCCI has clear guidelines for the selection of venues across the country. There are many stadiums in India, which are capable of hosting high-octane games. To equalize hosting rights among the top hosting grounds, the Board follows an ‘unwritten’ rotational policy, whereby Team India’s matches are played at the top hosting grounds. As per the rotational policy, not a single ground will host back-to-back games in India.
According to media reports, it is generally believed that the BCCI now has a venue rotation policy, where games are rotated between 15-20 Test venues and 25-30 white-ball venues.
No back-to-back matches at the same venue
For the 2026–27 season, India will participate in several consecutive bilateral series at home, consisting of Test and limited-overs matches.
During the remaining course of the season, the BCCI is set to host 22 international matches, including the Border-Gavaskar Test series against Australia. Before hosting Australia for a Test series, the Men in Blue will face West Indies, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe on home soil.
These matches are expected to be held in 17 different cities. After hosting the Super 8 matches of the 2026 T20 World Cup and IPL matches, Eden Gardens will host the India vs Zimbabwe 1st ODI on January 3, 2027, and Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium will host the India vs Zimbabwe 3rd ODI on January 9.
Complete list of India’s domestic season fixtures for 2026-27:
vs west indies
1st ODI, September 27, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
2nd ODI, 30 September, Barsapara Cricket Stadium (ACA Stadium), Guwahati
3rd ODI, October 3, PCA New Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh
First T20 match, 6 October, Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
2nd T20 match, October 9, Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) International Cricket Stadium, Ranchi
3rd T20 match, 11 October, Holkar Cricket Stadium. Indore
Fourth T20 match, 14 October, Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
5th T20 match, 17 October, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
vs sri lanka
1st ODI, 13 December, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
2nd ODI, 16 December, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
3rd ODI, 19 December, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
First T20 match, 22 December, Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot
Second T20 match, 24 December, Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
3rd T20 match, 27 December, Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) International Stadium, Pune
vs zimbabwe
1st ODI, January 3, Eden Gardens, Kolkata
2nd ODI, 6 January, Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
3rd ODI, 9 January, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
vs australia
1st Test, 21-25 January, Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
Second Test, 29 January-2 February, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
3rd Test, 11-15 February, Barsapara Cricket Stadium (ACA Stadium), Guwahati
Fourth Test, February 19-23, Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) International Cricket Stadium, Ranchi
5th Test, 27 February-3 March, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Read More: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma ODI schedule: Complete list of matches they will play in India’s 2026-27 domestic season