India's World Cup Win Barely Over — BCCI Already Exploring More T20Is in Ireland and Sri Lanka This Summer
Winning the T20 World Cup is supposed to be the end of something. In Indian cricket in 2026, it is simply a reason to schedule more matches.
The BCCI is exploring the addition of two separate three-match T20I series — one in Ireland and one in Sri Lanka — to an India calendar that is already among the most demanding in world cricket, according to reports from Cricbuzz. World champions under Suryakumar Yadav are preparing for a stretch of cricket that, if these additional series are confirmed, could see the Indian team in action across five countries across four months of the European and Asian summer.
The Sri Lanka Proposal: Cricket Meets Cyclone Relief
The more emotionally significant of the two proposals comes from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), whose pitch to the BCCI carries a humanitarian backstory.
Sri Lanka was severely damaged by Cyclone Ditwah in November 2025, which caused widespread flooding, displacement and infrastructure destruction across several regions. SLC has approached the BCCI with a proposal to add three T20Is to India’s already-confirmed tour of the island nation, framing the additional matches as a fundraising initiative to support ongoing flood relief efforts.
India are already scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for a two-Test series that forms part of the World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle. Those Tests are expected to take place in July-August 2026. Under the proposed addition, Suryakumar Yadav’s T20I team would play three white-ball matches first, before the red-ball squad takes over for the WTC Tests.
For Sri Lanka, the financial logic is straightforward: matches involving India — even in a bilateral T20I series — generate gate receipts, broadcast rights income and commercial revenues that dwarf what most other cricket tours deliver. Hosting India draws full stadiums. The BCCI is reportedly receptive to the proposal, recognising the combination of goodwill value and the existing infrastructure of a scheduled tour.
The Ireland Window: June and the Road to England
The second proposal is less emotionally loaded but strategically more intriguing. India are scheduled to tour England for a white-ball series — three ODIs and five T20Is — running from July 1 to 19. The Irish proposal would see India make a brief stopover in Dublin in the final week of June, playing three T20Is at Malahide before flying to England for the main tour.
Talks between the BCCI and Cricket Ireland have been underway since at least September 2025, when CI chairman Brian MacNeice confirmed discussions to ESPNcricinfo. Sources quoted in the Cricbuzz report indicate cautious optimism that the series will materialise, though no fixtures have been formally announced.
Ireland’s desire to host India is driven by a simple reality: no other visiting team fills Malahide the way India does. The ground — a picturesque cricket venue on the outskirts of Dublin — has hosted India on three previous occasions, all of which generated significant commercial returns for Cricket Ireland and delivered the kind of elite cricket exposure that their domestic players benefit from enormously. With Ireland hosting New Zealand, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in 2026 under existing FTP commitments, a three-match India T20I series would be the centrepiece of their international summer.
India’s Proposed Schedule: June–August 2026
Slotting the two proposed series alongside the already-confirmed schedule reveals just how relentless the period ahead is:
Period | Fixture |
|---|---|
June 6–20 | Home series vs Afghanistan (1 Test, 3 ODIs) |
Late June (proposed) | 3 T20Is in Ireland, Malahide |
July 1–19 | Tour of England (3 ODIs, 5 T20Is) |
July–August (proposed) | 3 T20Is + 2 Tests in Sri Lanka |
That is five separate series — across four countries, spanning three formats — compressed into approximately 10 weeks. The Afghanistan home series is confirmed. The Ireland and Sri Lanka T20Is remain under discussion. England is confirmed.
The Broader Context: India’s 49-Match 2026 Calendar
India were already scheduled to play 49 international matches across all formats in 2026, including 20 bilateral T20Is outside the T20 World Cup itself — the most T20Is for India in any calendar year since the format’s introduction. The BCCI’s willingness to explore additional fixtures reflects both the commercial appetite for India matches globally and the recognition that, as defending world champions, every board on earth would accept an Indian team visit if offered one.
The India men’s team — now led by Suryakumar Yadav in T20Is and Shubman Gill in Tests — will need careful workload management across this period. Jasprit Bumrah, whose availability is always carefully monitored after his recurring stress fracture history, will be a particular concern ahead of the Sri Lanka Tests and what looks like a significant WTC final qualification push.
For Cricket Ireland and Sri Lanka Cricket, these discussions represent exactly the kind of opportunity that development boards most need: a world champion opponent, a packed ground, and the revenue and visibility that comes with it.
Whether the final schedules are confirmed in the weeks ahead, one thing is certain — India’s cricketers will have very little time to enjoy their World Cup medals before the next series begins.