Revealed: Why BCCI didn’t give BGT matches to Wankhede and Eden Gardens?

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has unveiled the upcoming edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the 2026-27 season (BGT 2026-27). For the 5-match Test series, the board has selected Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi, and Ahmedabad as the venue cities.

A part of cricket fans raised questions to the BCCI for not selecting some of the iconic venues of the nation, like the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. But why did the board skip these venues for the historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy?

BCCI's 'unwritten' policy to select venues

BCCI has clear guidelines to select the venues across the nation. There are multiple stadiums in India, which are capable of hosting high-octane games. To keep the hosting rights equal between the top hosting grounds, the board follows an 'unwritten' rotational policy, under which the top ground gets Team India matches. According to the rotational policy, a single ground will not host back-to-back India games.

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According to media reports, it is commonly assumed that BCCI is now having a venue rotation policy where games are rotated among 15-20 test venues, and 25-30 white ball venues.

No back-to-back matches in the same venue

For the 2026-27 season, India will be engaged in multiple back-to-back bilateral series at home, including Tests and limited-overs matches.

During the remaining course of the season, BCCI is set to host 22 international matches, including the Border-Gavaskar Test series against Australia. Before hosting Australia for the Test series, the Men in Blue will be up against West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe on home soil.

These matches are expected to be held across 17 different cities. After hosting the Super 8 match of the 2026 T20 World Cup and IPL matches, Eden Gardens will arrange the India vs Zimbabwe 1st ODI match on January 3, 2027, and Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium will host the India vs Zimbabwe 3rd ODI on January 9.

Full list India's home season fixtures for 2026-27:

Vs West Indies

1st ODI, September 27, Greenfield International Stadium, Trivandrum

2nd ODI, September 30, Barsapara Cricket Stadium (ACA Stadium), Guwahati

3rd ODI, October 3, PCA New Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh

1st T20I, October 6, Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

2nd T20I, October 9, Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) International Cricket Stadium, Ranchi

3rd T20I, October 11, Holkar Cricket Stadium. Indore

4th T20I, October 14, Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad

5th T20I, October 17, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Vs Sri Lanka

1st ODI, December 13, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

2nd ODI, December 16, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

3rd ODI, December 19, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

1st T20I, December 22, Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot

2nd T20I, December 24, Barabati Stadium, Cuttack

3rd T20I, December 27, Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) International Stadium, Pune

Vs Zimbabwe

1st ODI, January 3, Eden Gardens, Kolkata

2nd ODI, January 6, Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad

3rd ODI, January 9, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Vs Australia

1st Test, January 21–25, Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur

2nd Test, January 29–February 2, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

3rd Test, February 11–15, Barsapara Cricket Stadium (ACA Stadium), Guwahati

4th Test, February 19–23, Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) International Cricket Stadium, Ranchi

5th Test, February 27–March 3, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

Read More: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma ODI schedule: Full list of matches they will play in India’s 2026-27 home season