Overall, the 12 full members will play 173 Tests, 281 ODIs, and 323 T20Is between each other.

Team India will play as many as 38 test matches, and a total of 141 bilateral games over the course of the next four years, as revealed by the International Cricket Council’s new Future Tour Programs (FTP). 

“We are incredibly lucky to have three vibrant formats of the game, with an outstanding program of ICC global events and strong bilateral and domestic cricket, and this FTP is designed to allow all cricket to flourish,” ICC GM of Cricket Wasim Khan said.

Overall, the 12 full members will play 173 Tests, 281 ODIs, and 323 T20Is between each other – almost 700 more matches than the current FTP. As expected, the big three of cricket – England, India, and Australia – will be playing each other more often. 

India’s first Test series in the 2023-2027 FTP cycle will be against Bangladesh later this year in December. Next year, they will host Australia for a four-match Test series, and then tour West indies and South Africa for two Tests each. 

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been extended to five-match series, and it will be played twice – first in the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championships (WTC), and then in the 2025-27 cycle of the WTC. The last time both sides competed in a five-match series was in 1992. India will also be playing two five-match Test series against England. 

The new FTP will also mark the comeback of the Champions Trophy, set to be held in Pakistan in 2024. There’s no bilateral series between India and Pakistan due to political tensions. But both of them will come across each other frequently in the ICC tournaments.

Ahead of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, India will be playing only 27 games,beginning from the upcoming three-match ODI series versus Zimbabwe. Even though franchise cricket has gained traction of late, occupying a major part of the calendar, there’s no dearth of international matches. 

If one considers the Indian Premier League, which takes almost two months of the calendar year, the Indian cricketers will be in action non-stop till April 2027, barring one month – August – in 2024. 

Lead Image: BCCI/ Twitter