The Indian national cricket team have a busy January, which lasts into the rest of the year. It's a T20 World Cup year, so a lot of their fixtures are geared toward preparing for that. But they have a good amount of ODI and Test cricket to play as well.
The year will include the Indian Premier League, Asia Cup and obviously the 2020 T20 World Cup – and ongoing rivalries with Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England.
There are plenty of opportunities for bettors to explore the Indian markets during all the 2020 series, Test Championship, Asia Cup and Indian Premier League the Indian cricket players are involved in.
India vs Sri Lanka – January 2020, 3 T20Is
- 1st T20I, 5 January 2020, Guwahati
- 2nd T20I, 7 January 2020, Indore
- 3rd T20I, 10 January, Pune
India and Sri Lanka were playing a Twenty20 series at the time of writing. Zimbabwe were meant to be India's opposition for this series originally, but were suspended by the International Cricket Council. The ICC believed Zimbabwe's government were interfering cricket too much. That has since been cleared up and Zimbabwe have been reinstated as a full ICC member.
The first Twenty20 in Guwahati was washed out without a ball bowled, placing all the more importance on the second and third matches in Indore and Pune, respectively. The series is Jasprit Bumrah's comeback to international cricket and another opportunity for Lasith Malinga to prove himself as Sri Lanka's T20 captain.
India vs Australia – January 2020, 3 ODIs
- 1st ODI, 14 January 2020, Mumbai
- 2nd ODI, 17 January 2020, Rajkot
- 3rd ODI, 19 January 2020, Bengaluru
While this tour won't feature Twenty20 cricket, the ODI format will allow India more opportunity to test themselves in limited-overs cricket against the team that will host the T20 World Cup later in the year.
India's ODI winning record against Australia is not great at just under 40 percent. Australia have won 77 and India 50 of their ODI meetings, with 10 no-results. They have never tied an ODI.
India and Australia have not played each other in an ODI at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, which will host the series opener, since 2007. India won that match on the back of Robin Uthappa's 47. He is still playing today – and a good Indian Premier League campaign might see him get into India's squad for the T20 World Cup.
New Zealand vs India – January to March 2020, 5 T20Is, 3 ODIs, 2 Tests
- 1st T20I, 24 January 2020, Auckland
- 2nd T20I, 26 January 2020, Auckland
- 3rd T20I, 29 January 2020, Hamilton
- 4th T20I, 31 January 2020, Wellington
- 5th T20I, 2 February 2020, Mount Maunganui
- 1st ODI, 5 February 2020, Hamilton
- 2nd ODI, 8 February 2020, Auckland
- 3rd ODI, 11 February 2020, Mount Maunganui
- 1st Test, 21-25 February 2020, Wellington
- 2nd Test, 29 February-4 March 2020, Christchurch
India will be New Zealand for six weeks for a full tour, which will start with five Twenty20s and end with two Tests. Slotted in the middle will be three ODIs.
The Twenty20s will give bettors an early look at what could be the two finalists at the 2020 T20 World Cup. India are a dominant force in international cricket, while New Zealand really up their game at big tournaments.
The Test matches will then give Rohit Sharma, if he is selected and not rested, the chance to walk his recent talk about not overthinking things.
“I was thinking too much about success in Tests. I would go overboard as to why is this happening, why am I playing that shot. After each Test innings, I would go to our video analyst, sit, watch and then confuse my brain further. That wasn't actually the right thing that I was doing. Thinking too much about technique was not allowing me to enjoy the game,” said Sharma.
Sharma averages 60 in Test cricket against New Zealand – a full 14 runs more than his career aggregate of 46.
India vs South Africa – March 2020, 3 ODIs
- 1st ODI, 12 March 2020, Dharamsala
- 2nd ODI, 15 March 2020, Lucknow
- 3rd ODI, 18 March 2020, Kolkata
Like they did earlier in the year against Australia, India will host South Africa for a quick tour of three ODIs. The tour will happen shortly before Indian Premier League and the final ODI will be especially interesting. It will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where several South Africans will return a couple of weeks later. The likes of Chennai Super Kings duo Faf du Plessis and Lungi Ngidi will likely be on the tour of India before returning to the IPL to be part of Chennai vs Kolkata Knight Riders and other rivalries.
Indian Premier League – March to April 2020
The world's T20 superstars will come to India for IPL 13. Almost all of them will be pushing their cases for selection for their countries' T20 World Cup squads. Conditions will be very different in Australia, where the 2020 T20 World Cup will be played, but runs scored and wickets taken on sub-continental pitches will county for plenty, too.
Latest IPL 2020 Odds
| IPL Team | Winner Odds |
| Mumbai Indians | 5.0 |
| Hyderabad Sunrisers | 5.0 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 5.5 |
| Delhi Captials | 7.0 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 8.0 |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 8.0 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 10.0 |
| Kings XI Punjab | 11.0 |
Best Bet: Mumbai Indians to win IPL for fifth time with Bet365 at 5.00
