The BCCI has laid out an action-packed home programme for its pathway sides, with plans running across the men’s and women’s ‘A’ teams as well as the Under-19 groups. The schedule, announced on Wednesday, May 6, stretches from mid-year into the closing months of the season and keeps a strong balance between shorter formats and extended cricket for development.
For India A Women, Australia A Women will be the first visitors, starting on September 12. The series is set to be played across Mohali and Dharamsala, followed later by a meeting with England A Women later in the season in Pune and Navi Mumbai. Both matchups are designed as multi-format contests, with each tour featuring three T20s, three one-day games, and an additional multi-day fixture to test skills in longer spells. After those ‘A’ team engagements, the senior women’s side will welcome Zimbabwe in October for what will be the first-ever bilateral encounter between these two teams in women’s cricket. That six-match white-ball run will include three T20Is in Raipur and three ODIs in Baroda.
On the men’s pathway circuit, India A will host Australia A from September 22, with the entire series taking place in Puducherry. The tour is structured around red-ball preparation as well as 50-over cricket, featuring two four-day matches alongside three one-day games. This mix underlines the BCCI’s focus on building skills for different match demands while also keeping the ODI pathway firmly in mind ahead of next year’s ODI World Cup.
At Under-19 level, India U19 Men will take on Australia U19 in a five-match tour. Rajkot has been selected to host the three one-day fixtures, while the two multi-day games will be split between Rajkot and Ahmedabad. Meanwhile, India U19 Women also have two home assignments scheduled. They will begin with a six-match white-ball series against Sri Lanka Women U19, staged across Chennai and Puducherry in June and July. Later in the year, India U19 Women will host England U19 Women for a five-match T20 series in November and December, with venues set as Baroda and Surat.
