As we are on the cusp of 2020, talks, plans, and schedules swat almost all professional fronts. Similarly, the Indian Cricket team is also witnessing an elaborated and extensive schedule for 2021.
The men in Blue have a packed schedule comprising 14 Test Matches, 16 ODIs & 23 T20 internationals from January to December in 2021. Besides those international games, they have IPL 2021 during April-May (Most likely), Asia Cup T20 for June, and ICC World Cup in October.
The players have no month’s rest time and will have to maintain their fitness levels to fulfil their cricketing commitments optimally. The continuous cricket will be quite exhaustive for players but engaging for the viewers, who will relish some fine cricket all-throughout the year.
On an official front, BCCI is yet to release the cricket schedule for the Indian team; this information update is available with InsideSport. However, BCCI is committed to honoring all commitments of cancelled series and tours in 2020. As of now, the schedule is as below
| MONTHS | SERIES | TESTS | ODIs | T20I |
| Jan, Feb, March | England to India | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| April         | IPL | |||
| June | India to Sri Lanka | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| June- July | Asia Cup | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| July | India to Zimbabwe | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| July, Aug, Sept | India to England | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| October | South Africa to India | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Oct-Nov | ICC World Cup T20 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Nov, Dec | New Zealand to India | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| December | India to South Africa | 3 | 0 | 3 |
All the cricketing board and the ICC officials will have to be conduct the cricket in utmost vigilance. In the wake of raging pandemic- the novel coronavirus, the last mile security of the players will have to be taken into account. Players will be expected to diligently abide by the strict bio-bubble norms and matches should be conducted in protected in safe spheres.
The series against England is pivotal for India as they will need near perfect results to qualify for the final of the test championship. If they manage to qualify, then one more game will be added to the schedule. The final will be played in Lords at the midway point of 2021. Meanwhile, the T-20 World Cup is also pivotal for Kohli’s men as they have been struggled at the final stage of ICC events in the last five years. With the tournament in home conditions, India will be expected to go all the way and win the trophy after 14 years.