India v West Indies T20I and South Africa v Australia Test headline packed global cricket slate

Cricket's calendar has hit one of its most congested stretches, with bilateral series, ICC pathway qualifiers, legends' leagues and first-class season openers all running in parallel across multiple continents. Cricbuzz's live match listings show the second T20I between India and West Indies and the opening Test between South Africa and Australia among the headline acts of the current window.

Cricket action from the packed international and domestic schedule

Bilateral series lead the international slate

India's white-ball assignment against West Indies continues with the second T20I of their series, while the longest format takes centre stage in South Africa, where the first Test of the SA v AUS 2026 series gets the touring Australians underway. Asia adds two more international engagements: Sri Lanka's tour of Pakistan, 2026 begins with the first T20I, and Afghanistan meet Bangladesh in a one-off Test staged in the United Arab Emirates as part of the Afghanistan vs Bangladesh in UAE, 2026 fixture.

World Cup pathway events in full swing

The road to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup is being paved across Asia, with both sub-regional qualifiers producing a crowded fixture list. In the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier A 2026, Thailand face Kuwait in the seventh match, Bhutan take on Mongolia in the eighth, Myanmar meet Bahrain in the ninth, Mongolia and Thailand clash again in the tenth, Bahrain renew acquaintance with Kuwait in the eleventh, and Qatar play Myanmar in the twelfth.

Qualifier B follows a similar round-robin rhythm: China open against the Maldives in the first match, Saudi Arabia face Singapore in the second, Hong Kong, China take on Malaysia in the third, Malaysia meet Saudi Arabia in the fourth, China and Hong Kong, China cross paths in the fifth, and the Maldives play Singapore in the sixth.

In the 50-over pathway, the ICC CWC League Two 2023-27 rolls on with its 130th match between Namibia and the United States of America, the 131st between Oman and Canada, and the 132nd between Namibia and the United Arab Emirates.

Legends, leagues and Shield openers

League cricket offers its own draw. The World Championship of Legends 2026 reaches its ninth match, with Australia Champions facing South Africa Champions, before Bangladesh Champions take on West Indies Champions in the tenth. South Africa's domestic T20 circuit is also in motion, with the CSA T20 Challenge 2026 pitting Boland against Eastern Storm in Pool B, while Northern Cape meet Warriors and Border face Dolphins in Pool A.

The domestic calendar is equally busy. Australia A's tour of India 2026 continues with the second unofficial ODI between India A and Australia A, while Australia U19's tour of India features the second unofficial Test between Australia U19 and India U19. In Australia, the Sheffield Shield 2026-27 season opens with three simultaneous fixtures: Victoria against South Australia, Tasmania against New South Wales, and Queensland against Western Australia.

Women's cricket takes centre stage

On the women's side, Bangladesh Women's tour of Australia, 2026 gets underway with the first ODI between Australia Women and Bangladesh Women.

The storylines behind the schedule

Beyond the field, the coverage pillars point to the narratives shaping the season: team-by-team previews for IPL 2026 and the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, ongoing coverage of the Indo-Pak boycott controversy and Bangladesh's T20 World Cup venue controversy, plus dedicated auction stories and IPL off-season coverage. The archive stretches back through the defining moments of the modern era, from Virat Kohli's Test retirement and Ravichandran Ashwin's international farewell on December 18, 2024 to MS Dhoni's limited-overs captaincy handover.