{"id":10460,"date":"2025-12-31T09:48:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T04:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=675942"},"modified":"2025-12-31T09:48:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T04:18:23","slug":"odi-matches-of-india-in-2026-check-how-many-games-virat-kohli-and-rohit-sharma-could-play-ahead-of-world-cup-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/odi-matches-of-india-in-2026-check-how-many-games-virat-kohli-and-rohit-sharma-could-play-ahead-of-world-cup-2027\/","title":{"rendered":"ODI matches of India in 2026: Check how many games Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma could play ahead of World Cup 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"120\" data-end=\"474\">India have a packed <strong data-start=\"140\" data-end=\"174\">ODI calendar lined up for 2026<\/strong>, which will play a crucial role in preparations for the <strong data-start=\"231\" data-end=\"257\">ICC ODI World Cup 2027<\/strong>. Based on the currently scheduled bilateral series, the Indian team is set to play <strong data-start=\"341\" data-end=\"379\">at least 18 One Day Internationals<\/strong> during the year, with the possibility of more if the postponed Bangladesh tour is rescheduled.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"476\" data-end=\"539\">Here\u2019s a clear look at India\u2019s confirmed ODI fixtures for 2026.<\/p>\n<h4 data-start=\"541\" data-end=\"584\">India ODI schedule in 2026 (confirmed)<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"585\" data-end=\"672\">India are scheduled to play six bilateral ODI series, each consisting of three matches.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"674\" data-end=\"901\">India vs New Zealand \u2013 3 ODIs (Home)<br data-start=\"710\" data-end=\"713\" \/>India vs Afghanistan \u2013 3 ODIs (Home)<br data-start=\"749\" data-end=\"752\" \/>India vs England \u2013 3 ODIs (Away)<br data-start=\"784\" data-end=\"787\" \/>India vs West Indies \u2013 3 ODIs (Home)<br data-start=\"823\" data-end=\"826\" \/>India vs New Zealand \u2013 3 ODIs (Away)<br data-start=\"862\" data-end=\"865\" \/>India vs Sri Lanka \u2013 3 ODIs (Home)<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"903\" data-end=\"947\"><strong data-start=\"903\" data-end=\"947\">Total confirmed ODIs in 2026: 18 matches<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"949\" data-end=\"1188\">There is <strong data-start=\"958\" data-end=\"990\">no official confirmation yet<\/strong> on the postponed <strong data-start=\"1008\" data-end=\"1027\">Bangladesh tour<\/strong>, which was deferred earlier and tentatively pushed to 2026. If that tour goes ahead, it could add <strong data-start=\"1126\" data-end=\"1144\">another 3 ODIs<\/strong>, taking the total closer to <strong data-start=\"1173\" data-end=\"1187\">21 matches<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h4 data-start=\"1190\" data-end=\"1249\">How many ODIs could Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma play?<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"1250\" data-end=\"1462\">With the <strong data-start=\"1259\" data-end=\"1291\">World Cup scheduled for 2027<\/strong>, the 2026 season is expected to be one of the final extended ODI windows for senior players like <strong data-start=\"1389\" data-end=\"1421\">Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma<\/strong> to build rhythm, form and match fitness.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1464\" data-end=\"1840\">If both players remain part of India\u2019s first-choice ODI setup, they could feature in <strong data-start=\"1549\" data-end=\"1595\">most, if not all, of the 18 confirmed ODIs<\/strong>, depending on workload management and rest policies. The home-heavy schedule also increases the likelihood of senior players being available consistently, especially for high-profile series against teams like England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1842\" data-end=\"2010\">Away ODIs, particularly the <strong data-start=\"1870\" data-end=\"1886\">England tour<\/strong>, are also expected to be significant from a preparation standpoint, making them important fixtures for experienced batters.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2253\" data-end=\"2429\">For Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, these matches could represent <strong data-start=\"2317\" data-end=\"2356\">a major chunk of their ODI build-up<\/strong> before the World Cup, making every series in 2026 particularly relevant.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2431\" data-end=\"2523\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Any confirmation on the Bangladesh tour will further shape the final ODI count for the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India have a packed ODI calendar lined up for 2026, which will play a crucial role in preparations for the\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":32943,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4057],"class_list":["post-10460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket","tag-top-stories"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}