Afghanistan Tour of India 2026: Schedule, Squads, Venues & How to Watch

Afghanistan's 2026 tour of India is the kind of fixture that quietly tells you how far the sport has travelled in the last decade. One full Test, three ODIs, played in the heart of an Indian summer, against a side that, less than a generation ago, was still chasing Associate status. For Afghanistan, this tour is a milestone. For India, it is the first chance since the historic 2018 Bengaluru Test to host their neighbours in the longest format on home soil — and a useful sighter for selectors looking ahead to the next World Test Championship cycle and the 2027 ODI World Cup.

This hub brings together everything you need ahead of the series: the schedule, likely venues, broadcast details, head-to-head record, the 2018 Test context, and the four storylines we will be tracking across the fortnight. Where the BCCI has not yet finalised every detail, we have flagged it clearly — so you know what is firm and what is still subject to announcement.

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Series at a glance

• Tour window: June 6 to June 20, 2026
• Format: 1 Test match + 3 One Day Internationals
• Host: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
• Visitors: Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB)
• Trophy: To be confirmed by BCCI
• Broadcast (India): Star Sports network (TV) and Disney+ Hotstar (digital)
• WTC context: The Test counts in the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle for both sides

This is Afghanistan's second full tour of India after a one-off Test was hosted in Bengaluru in June 2018. The ODI leg will mark Afghanistan's first three-match ODI series on Indian soil — earlier ODI fixtures between the sides have largely been at neutral venues during ICC events or the Asia Cup.

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Full schedule (provisional)

The dates below are based on BCCI's indicative international calendar circulated to state associations, and are subject to formal confirmation. We will update this page the moment the BCCI publishes its final fixture list.

#	Match	Dates	Likely venue	Start time (IST)
1	Only Test	June 8 – June 12, 2026	Bengaluru or Chennai	9:30 AM
2	1st ODI	June 15, 2026	Pune (MCA Stadium)	1:30 PM
3	2nd ODI	June 17, 2026	Mohali (PCA Stadium)	1:30 PM
4	3rd ODI	June 20, 2026	Kolkata (Eden Gardens)	1:30 PM

A few notes on the calendar:

• Why June? The window sits between the IPL 2026 final (early June) and India's tour of England (which begins in early July with five T20Is and three ODIs). It is the only realistic gap for a home Afghanistan series.
• Travel buffer: A two-day gap is built in between the Test and the first ODI for travel and squad transition. Expect a partially different squad for the white-ball leg.
• Day-night Test? The BCCI has not indicated this will be a pink-ball fixture. Both venues on the Test shortlist have hosted day-night Tests before, but the default expectation is a traditional red-ball, daytime Test. If you want a refresher on how the format works, see our guide to Day-Night Test cricket rules. And for the wider 2026 rule context — stop clock, ODI two-ball reversal, boundary catch tweak — see our breakdown of the ICC's 2026 playing conditions and the underlying MCC Laws 2026 edition for club cricketers.

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Likely venues

Test venue: Bengaluru vs Chennai

The two front-runners for the one-off Test are the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Bengaluru carries the obvious sentimental value: it hosted the historic 2018 Test, the first between the two sides. The pitch there typically offers something for everyone — pace and bounce early, with spin coming in from day three. Chennai, meanwhile, is the spiritual home of Indian Test cricket in the south and a venue that historically rewards spinners — which would suit India's deep red-ball spin stocks but also, ironically, give Afghanistan's spinners a real shot at relevance.

Our reading: Bengaluru is the favourite, both for narrative reasons (return to the 2018 venue) and because Chennai is typically rotated into India's flagship home Test series later in the year. But Chennai cannot be ruled out, particularly if the BCCI wants a slow surface that flatters the visitors.

ODI venues: Pune, Mohali, Kolkata

For the three ODIs, the BCCI tends to spread fixtures across regions that have not hosted a recent home international:

• Pune (MCA Stadium): Quality ODI surface, good batting conditions, central location.
• Mohali (PCA Stadium): Returning to the international circuit; cooler June evenings make it a comfortable venue.
• Kolkata (Eden Gardens): A series-decider at Eden has obvious commercial pull, especially for an evening fixture under lights.

Other venues in the conversation include Hyderabad, Lucknow, and Visakhapatnam — any of which could replace one of the three above if scheduling demands shift.

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How to watch

In India, the entire Afghanistan series will be available on the Star Sports television network with English and Hindi commentary, and digitally on Disney+ Hotstar. Regional language feeds (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali) are typically available on Star's regional sub-channels for marquee fixtures.

For international viewers:

• Afghanistan: ACB's designated broadcast partner (typically ATN and Lemar TV)
• United Kingdom: TBC; recent India home series have been on Sky Sports or TNT Sports
• United States and Canada: Willow TV / Willow by Cricbuzz
• Australia and New Zealand: Fox Cricket / Sky NZ (subject to rights deals)
• Middle East and rest of the world: Star Sports network and ICC's international rights partners

If you are a digital-only viewer in India, the simplest option is the standard Disney+ Hotstar Premium subscription, which carries every ball of every BCCI home series in HD with multi-language commentary.

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Head-to-head record

Here is the all-format head-to-head between India and Afghanistan, accurate to the start of the 2026 series:

Format	Played	India won	Afghanistan won	Drawn / NR
Tests	1	1	0	0
ODIs	~5	4	0	1 (tied at Asia Cup 2018)
T20Is	~10	9	1	0

The numbers tell the story: India have been overwhelmingly dominant, but Afghanistan have managed signature moments — the tied ODI at the 2018 Asia Cup in Dubai, and a famous T20I win in Sharjah in 2025 are the standouts. They have never beaten India in a Test. They have never beaten India in a bilateral ODI series.

That said, gaps narrow. Afghanistan's spin attack — Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad — is genuinely world-class in white-ball cricket, and on a turning pitch in India, that matters more than most realise.

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The 2018 Bengaluru Test: how we got here

To understand the weight of the 2026 fixture, you have to go back to June 14-15, 2018 — the dates of the only previous Test between these sides on Indian soil.

It was Afghanistan's inaugural Test match as a Full Member of the ICC, and they chose India as their hosts. The match was scheduled for five days at the Chinnaswamy. It lasted barely two.

India batted first and racked up 474 in 105.5 overs, with Shikhar Dhawan's 107 (the first Test century by an Indian opener before lunch on day one), Murali Vijay's 105, and a 50 from KL Rahul. Afghanistan's reply was 109 all out (Hardik Pandya 5/28). Following on, they made 103 (Ravi Ashwin 4/27, Umesh Yadav 3/26). India won by an innings and 262 runs.

The result was emphatic. The lessons were sobering for Afghanistan — a top order untested by Test conditions, a pace attack short of the threshold needed to bowl long spells on day-three pitches, and a tactical naïveté that came from genuinely never having played the format. But what came next is what matters: Afghanistan went on to win their next Test (against Ireland in 2019), beat Bangladesh at home, and have steadily improved their red-ball machinery over the WTC era.

The 2026 Test, then, is the rematch — eight years after the original, with a much more mature Afghanistan side that has a Test pedigree to defend.

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Squad watch

Full squads will be announced approximately ten days before each leg. Here is the framework to expect.

India

• Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, KL Rahul, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel.
• ODI squad: Likely partial rotation. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are in their last cycle before the 2027 ODI World Cup, and given India tour England in July, expect rest for at least one of them across the three ODIs.

For our detailed Test XI prediction, see our India Test squad and XI prediction for the Afghanistan Test. For the rotation question, see Rohit and Kohli ODI workload management.

Afghanistan

• Test squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (subject to fitness), Noor Ahmad, Zia-ur-Rehman, Yamin Ahmadzai, Naveed Zadran, Ikram Alikhil, Bahir Shah, Riaz Hassan.
• ODI squad: Strong overlap with the Test squad, with Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Fazalhaq Farooqi added for white-ball specialism, and Ibrahim Zadran/Rahmanullah Gurbaz as the opening pair.

The big squad question on the Afghan side is Rashid Khan's availability for the Test, given his ongoing back issues. We have a separate dedicated piece on that decision: Will Rashid Khan play the 2026 India Test?

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The four storylines we are tracking

1. Can Afghanistan upset India in the Test?

Realistically, India remain heavy favourites. But Afghanistan's spin trio — particularly Noor Ahmad and Mujeeb — could produce something unexpected on a slow Indian surface. We break down the upset path in Can Afghanistan beat India in the 2026 Test? A spin-attack analysis.

2. Workload management for India's veterans

With the England tour starting weeks later, expect rotation across the ODIs. Rohit, Kohli, Bumrah and Jadeja are all in selectorial cotton wool ahead of a heavy international schedule.

3. Is this Rashid Khan's Test farewell — or comeback?

Rashid's back injury has been managed throughout IPL 2026. The Test against India would be his first red-ball appearance since late 2024. If he plays, it might be his last. If he sits, Noor Ahmad gets a Test debut. We have a longer-arc piece on the Rashid Khan Test retirement watch that lays out the medical context and Afghanistan's spin succession plan.

4. WTC 2025-27 cycle implications

A win in this Test would be 12 valuable WTC points for India and a meaningful shift in their PCT (Percentage of Points). For the points system primer, read our ICC WTC rules and points system guide and the 2025-27 WTC cycle explainer. India sit in the upper half of the latest ICC Test rankings; a clean home Test win cements their position.

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What to expect from the conditions

Mid-June in India is typically warm to hot, with monsoon arriving in stages from south to north:

• Bengaluru in June: Daytime highs around 28-30°C, regular afternoon thundershowers. The pitch tends to be batting-friendly early, with spin assistance from day three.
• Chennai in June: Hotter (33-36°C), humid. Spin-dominated surface.
• Pune in June: Pre-monsoon — possibly a few interruptions but typically playable. Good batting wicket.
• Mohali in June: Cooler than the south. Slightly more pace and bounce early.
• Kolkata in June: Humid, with monsoon already arrived in the east. Eden tends to be a balanced surface.

For the spin-friendly Test venues, expect first-innings totals around 350-450 from the team batting first, with a falling fourth-innings target.

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Tickets and on-ground info

Ticket sales are typically opened by the host association approximately 3-4 weeks before each match, on BookMyShow or the venue's official ticketing partner. For the Test specifically, expect prices to start around ₹500 (general stand) and run to ₹5,000+ (premium boxes). For ODIs, day-tickets typically start at ₹1,000 with premium tiers running higher.

Key tips:

• Buy through the official portal announced by the host association — third-party resellers typically inflate prices and risk invalid tickets at the gate.
• Photo ID matching the booking name is required at the gate.
• Each venue has a published prohibited-items list (no DSLR cameras at most, no outside food and drink, no large bags).

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Why this tour matters

For Indian fans, an Afghanistan series can feel like an undercard — sandwiched between the IPL and a marquee England tour. That misreads the moment. This is a Test that closes a loop opened in 2018: India hosting Afghanistan in their first format Test, then doing it again eight years later as a rematch between two genuinely different sides.

For Afghanistan, this is everything. A competitive showing here — even a draw on a turning Indian pitch — would be the second-greatest day in their Test history (after their first-ever Test win in 2019). For India, it is a chance to bank WTC points, manage workloads sensibly, and give younger squad members game time before England.

We will be live with previews, pitch reports, playing XIs, ball-by-ball updates and post-match analysis throughout. Bookmark this hub — it is the home page for every CricJosh piece on the series.

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Quick links

• Test preview and India XI: India vs Afghanistan Test 2026: squad prediction
• Rashid Khan availability: Will Rashid Khan play the 2026 India Test?
• ODI rotation question: Rohit and Kohli workload management
• Upset analysis: Can Afghanistan beat India in the 2026 Test?

For more cricket previews, see our domestic cricket category.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When does the Afghanistan tour of India 2026 start? The tour begins on June 6, 2026, with the squads arriving for warm-ups. The first scheduled match is the one-off Test from June 8-12, 2026, with the three ODIs to follow on June 15, 17, and 20.

Where can I watch India vs Afghanistan 2026 live in India? Every match will be broadcast live on the Star Sports network in India (TV) and streamed on Disney+ Hotstar (digital). Regional language commentary feeds will be available on Star Sports' sub-channels and via the Hotstar app.

Has Afghanistan ever won a Test against India? No. The two sides have played one Test before (Bengaluru, June 2018), which India won by an innings and 262 runs. The 2026 Test will be only the second between them.

Will Rashid Khan play the Test? That is the central question of the tour. Rashid has managed a chronic back issue throughout IPL 2026, and his availability for the red-ball Test is uncertain. We have a dedicated piece tracking his availability decision.

Does the Afghanistan Test count for the World Test Championship? Yes. The Test is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle, with 12 points available for the winning side. It will affect both India's and Afghanistan's PCT in the qualification race for the 2027 WTC Final.

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The tour is short, but the storylines are not. Afghanistan in India is no longer a curiosity — it is a fixture in its own right, and 2026 is when that gets confirmed.