Team India's International schedule in 2020

The Men in Blue will hope to win that elusive World Cup finally in 2020.

Published - 30 Dec 2019, 17:17 IST | Updated - 30 Dec 2019, 17:17 IST

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The year is about to end and all everyone is looking forward to is the New Year. 2019 was a year of contrasting fortunes for team India. It was a year where they saw unsurmountable highs like winning a Test series in Australia for the first time in 70 years and scripting an ODI series win in New Zealand after a gap of 10 years.

But, it was also a year where they experienced soul-crushing lows like the semi-final defeat to New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup where they were once again unable to breach the knockout barrier. So, what challenges does the year 2020 hold for the Men in Blue?

The first challenge, of course, will be to finally breach the knockout barrier and claim their first ICC T20 World Cup title since 2007. And, for that India will have an ample amount of game time to get in readiness for the marquee event in Australia in October. The 2020 season will start with Sri Lanka visiting India for a three-match T20I series [January 05-10] which will be followed by the three One-Day Internationals against Australia,

India will tour Australia late in the year again

After hosting Australia for a three-match ODI series, Kohli’s men will travel to the Southern Hemisphere for a full-tour of New Zealand where they will lock horns with the Kiwis in five T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests between January 24 and March 04. India will not only be looking to avenge their 1-2 T20I series loss, the last time they were in the country but also their heartbreaking semi-final defeat in the ODI World Cup.

Besides that, the two-match Test series will give India a chance to solidify their N0.1 Test ranking and add to it, the opportunity of an elusive Test series win on New Zealand soil since 2009. After coming back from New Zealand, Team India will square-off against South Africa in a three-match One-day International series that will take place between March 12 and March 18.

Post the IPL, Team India will travel to Sri Lanka for the first time since their 9-0 win across all formats in 2017, where they’ll resume their ICC T20 World Cup preparations with three T20Is followed by as many ODIs. After the Sri Lankan tour, the Men in Blue will take part in the Asia Cup T20 in September, the dates and fixtures of which are yet to be announced by the ACC.

England is scheduled to visit India for a full tour in the Winter of 2020-2021. But, the tour will take place in two parts. The 50-over World Champions will first play three T20Is and three ODIs in September before the Men in Blue travel Down Under for a T20I series before the ICC T20 World Cup gets underway in mid-October.

After having featured in the T20 World Cup, India will stay back in Australia to take part in what is being tipped as the most-awaited clash of the entire calendar year- the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the height of the Australia summer, where Virat Kohli and his side will be eager to do an encore of their 2018 triumphs against an albeit stronger Australian unit.