India Poised to Finally Tour Bangladesh in January 2027 as Boards Thaw Relations

It has been postponed twice, frozen by politics, and written off more than once. Now, finally, India's tour of Bangladesh looks like it might happen. Reports from India on Friday say the two boards are working towards a January 2027 window for the long-delayed white-ball series — three one-day internationals and three T20s, most likely in the first week of the month. The story, first reported by SportsTak and picked up across Indian media, quotes Bangladesh Cricket Board president Tamim Iqbal speaking to the leading Dhaka daily Prothom Alo. "We are discussing a window. Given how our discussions with the BCCI are progressing, I am hopeful that the Indian team will come to Bangladesh for the series," Tamim said. "Both boards are working with a positive mindset." That is a long way from a done deal, and the reporting is careful to say so. Neither the BCCI nor the BCB has issued an official confirmation, and the tour can only go ahead if the Indian government gives its blessing. Relations between the two countries have been strained, and cricket has felt it. The tour was first scheduled for August 2025 and postponed. Then Bangladesh pulled out of playing their 2026 T20 World Cup games in India, a decision that sent the relationship between the boards into a nosedive. In the fallout, Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was released by Kolkata Knight Riders. So why now? Partly because both sides want it. Tamim, who took over as BCB chief, has made rebuilding relations with the BCCI a priority. Partly because the calendar, just barely, allows it. India are due to host Zimbabwe for three ODIs from January 3 to 9, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia begins on January 21. The Bangladesh window is small, squeezed between the two, but it exists. And with the Asia Cup due to be hosted in Bangladesh ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup, which starts on October 2, the series would double as useful preparation for both teams. For India, the cricketing stakes are real. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli now play only ODI cricket, and every 50-over game between now and the World Cup matters to them. The pair need match time to fine-tune their games for a tournament India will expect to win, and a series in Bangladesh — where India last toured in December 2022, when a heavily bandaged Rohit nearly stole a chase with a 28-ball 51 after dislocating his thumb — is exactly the kind of testing assignment that helps. There is a certain symmetry to it. Bangladesh, meanwhile, are in the middle of a home Test series against West Indies at Sylhet, and the BCB has other things on its plate — not least the fact that the Bangladesh Premier League will not run this season after a betting scandal. Hosting India, the biggest draw in world cricket, would be a statement that the board is back on its feet. Nothing is signed yet. The government clearance, the exact dates, the venues — all still to come. But for the first time in more than a year, both boards are talking the same way, in public, about the same window. After two postponements and a year of silence, that counts as progress.