North India Statesman
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News India Live, Digital Desk: 2025 is about to bid farewell and we all are preparing to welcome the New Year. But the real celebration for Indian cricket fans is 11 January 2026 Will start from. Why? Because in its own home, Team India is going to enter the field to face New Zealand (Kiwi team).
BCCI has released the complete schedule of this series and looking at the time-table this time, it seems that the month of January is going to be full of cricket excitement. This long series of 3 ODI and 5 T20 matches is not just entertainment, but it T20 World Cup 2026 It is the ‘foundation’ of preparation.
Emotional moment for Vadodara
The most special thing about this series is related to the first ODI match. first match 11 January of Gujarat Vadodara Will be played in (Baroda). For the cricket fans of Vadodara, this is no less than Diwali because after about 15 years, a men’s international match is going to be held here. This historic match will take place in the new ‘Kotambi Stadium’ built on the outskirts of the city. Imagine, what will be the atmosphere in the stadium when the wait of 15 years ends!
Schedule: Mark these dates in your diary
ODI Series:
Will start with ODI matches. These matches will be day-night.
- First match: 11 January 2026 – Vadodara (Gujarat)
- Second match: 14 January 2026 – Rajkot (Gujarat)
- Third match: 18 January 2026 – Indore (Madhya Pradesh)
Holkar Stadium of Indore is famous for its small ground and rain of fours and sixes, so be sure to see a mountain of runs there.
T20 Series:
Immediately after the ODI, the real ‘fight’ will begin. In view of the World Cup, 5 T-20 matches have been scheduled.
- 1st T20: 21 January – Nagpur
- Second T20: 23 January – Raipur
- 3rd T20: 25 January – Guwahati
- 4th T20: 28 January – Visakhapatnam
- Fifth T20: 31 January – Thiruvananthapuram
World Cup ‘dress rehearsal’
As we know, India and Sri Lanka will jointly host the T20 World Cup in February-March 2026. In such a situation, playing a 5-match T20 series against a strong team like New Zealand is the biggest test for Team India. This will be the last chance for captain Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir to choose their ‘perfect 11’.
All eyes will be on young players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh and Ravi Bishnoi. This series will decide who will get the ticket in the World Cup flight and whose card will be canceled.
