Contracted players of the Indian team arrived into the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru this week and underwent the mandated fitness benchmarks in groups. The drills wrapped up just as the side returned from Sri Lanka where they had a 1-0 Test series win. These sessions mixed high-intensity shuttle runs, endurance work and skill drills under the nets, with batters working through shadow strokes and net sessions on the outdoor pitches. Staff monitored every metric as the group prepared for the upcoming cricket that begins next month. Players arrived in groups so that recovery windows stayed intact and no one got any fatigue from the recent Test series against Sri Lanka.
The Centre of Excellence is the place for national-team conditioning,
and has become the default place for these checks after earlier injury concerns on overseas white-ball tours. Coaches and support staff treated the tests as non-negotiable gateways rather than optional tune-ups. Those who cleared the protocols moved straight into skill work while others stayed on for targeted recovery blocks. There are limited rest days available for players and the board used the window to lock in baseline fitness levels before the calendar tightens further. Images released by the BCCI show players in light-blue training kits under cloudy skies, batting on the square and working inside the covered nets. These pictures went viral on social media.
The pre season testing for the contracted players was conducted at the BCCI Centre of Excellence 👌 The players who had to undergo the mandated fitness arrived in batches and completed their respective tests ahead of a busy season 💪 pic.twitter.com/64LsSByytP
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 29, 2026
Team India Schedule 2026: Upcoming T20Is, ODIs and Tests
India’s white-ball campaign will resume on 13 September with the first of three T20Is against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The remaining games will be played on 15 and 17 September at the same venue. After this they will host West Indies who arrive for a three-match ODI series starting on 27 September in Thiruvananthapuram, followed by matches in Guwahati and New Chandigarh. The T20I series against West Indies starts on 6 October and will be played across Lucknow, Ranchi, Indore, Hyderabad and one further venue still to be finalised.
Along with this a full-strength squad will compete at the Asian Games in Japan. India enter as defending champions and have already named a strong contingent for the T20 competition. After the home white ball series, India will travel to New Zealand for a multi-format tour that includes two Tests, five ODIs and five T20Is. The Test matches will start in Wellington on 19 November. In December, Sri Lanka will come to India for three ODIs and three T20Is, closing the calendar year. Team India have an action packed cricket calendar and this gap between the Sri Lanka Test series and Afghanistan T20I series is the time the BCCI have decided to check the fitness at COE.
