Shalini SinghIndia and West Indies will play five T20Is from 6 to 17 October 2026, with every match scheduled for a 7:00 PM IST start. The series travels from Lucknow to Ranchi, Indore, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Shreyas Iyer is India's T20I captain, while Shai Hope leads West Indies.
India v West Indies T20I schedule
The BCCI's home-season announcement and ESPNcricinfo's match pages give the same dates and 7:00 PM local starts. The five venues are spread across five cities, so the series moves on after each match rather than staying at one ground.
| Match | Date | Start (IST) | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st T20I | Tuesday, 6 October 2026 | 7:00 PM | Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow |
| 2nd T20I | Friday, 9 October 2026 | 7:00 PM | JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi |
| 3rd T20I | Sunday, 11 October 2026 | 7:00 PM | Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore |
| 4th T20I | Wednesday, 14 October 2026 | 7:00 PM | Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad |
| 5th T20I | Saturday, 17 October 2026 | 7:00 PM | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru |
All five games are listed as night matches. Match-day details, including any late change, should be checked again before following the action on FairPlay's upcoming matches. Live scorecards can be followed through live scores.
India squad and captain
The BCCI named Shreyas Iyer captain and Tilak Varma vice-captain. The selection announcement on 16 September listed a 15-player squad. On 1 October, the BCCI confirmed an update: Washington Sundar was withdrawn to prepare for the Test series against New Zealand, and Naman Dhir was added in his place.
India's updated T20I squad: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav and Naman Dhir.
This means the originally announced list and the current BCCI update are not identical. Washington Sundar was in the first announcement; he is not in the updated squad.
West Indies squad
Cricket West Indies announced its T20I group on 19 September. Shai Hope is captain. The squad includes a mixture of established international players and newer options, including Kamil Pooran, who received his maiden call-up according to the board's announcement.
West Indies T20I squad: Shai Hope (captain), Jewel Andrew, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Kamil Pooran, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Romario Shepherd and Shamar Springer.
Cricket West Indies also said Jason Holder was rested for this series. That is a squad-selection note, not a prediction about playing XIs: the final XI for each match will be confirmed separately.
ODI series context
The T20Is follow a three-match ODI series. Before the third ODI, India had won the first two matches and held a 2-0 lead. The second ODI in Guwahati was especially notable: West Indies made 405/7, and India chased 406/2 in 43.3 overs to win by eight wickets.
Shubman Gill finished unbeaten on 223 from 133 balls. Rohit Sharma made 101, and the pair added 255 for the first wicket. It was India's highest successful ODI chase. The ODI score and Gill's innings are recorded by Sky Sports and the ESPNcricinfo match coverage.
The formats are separate, however. The ODI result does not determine the T20I series, and the squads are not the same: Gill captained the ODI side, while Iyer leads India in the T20Is.
T20I head-to-head record
ESPNcricinfo's India-West Indies T20 match-results list runs from the first meeting in 2009 through India's latest win in the 2026 T20 World Cup. Counting that list gives 31 T20Is: India won 20, West Indies won 10, and one produced no result. There are no tied matches in the listed record.
The latest completed meeting was on 1 March 2026, when India beat West Indies by five wickets at Eden Gardens in the T20 World Cup. Before that match, the sides had also met in the 2023 series, which West Indies won 3-2. These results provide historical context only; they do not forecast what will happen in October.
Before each match
Squads and fixtures can change because of injuries, replacements or schedule updates. FairPlay's upcoming matches page shows the latest fixture details from the data feed.
The practical summary is simple: five matches, five venues, 7:00 PM IST starts, Iyer leading India and Hope leading West Indies. Readers can use the FairPlay fixtures and score pages for match-day updates rather than relying on an old schedule copy.
Sources: BCCI home-season fixtures; BCCI India squad announcement; BCCI updated T20I squad notice; Cricket West Indies squad announcement; ESPNcricinfo series schedule; ESPNcricinfo Lucknow match page; ESPNcricinfo Ranchi match page; ESPNcricinfo Indore match page; ESPNcricinfo Hyderabad match page; ESPNcricinfo Bengaluru match page; ESPNcricinfo T20 head-to-head results; Sky Sports ODI report
This article was written by the FairPlay Editorial Desk with AI assistance, using the sources listed above. It was reviewed by Shalini Singh of the FairPlay editorial team before publication. To report an error, see our Editorial Policy.