The upcoming 2027 World Cup is creating a huge buzz among the Indian cricket fans after Rohit Sharma was axed from captaincy and Shubman Gill was given the throne. When there were prior claims that India has enough time to think about captaincy, another part felt that India won't be playing too many ODI games before the World Cup.

Shubman is currently busy with the two-match home Test series against the West Indies. However, he shared his first reaction on BCCI TV, saying his ultimate aim will be to win the World Cup. He said,

“It’s the biggest honour to be able to lead your country in the ODIs. To be able to lead a side that has done so well it’s immense pride for me. I hope I’ll be able to do great. We have about 20 ODIs before we play the World Cup in South Africa, which is obviously the ultimate goal. Everything that we play and all the players that we play, they are going to try their best to have a great season before we get to the World Cup. Hopefully, we will be ready before we go to South Africa and win the title."

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Notably, India's first ODI assignment is against Australia. The team will be touring the country for a three-match ODI series. The first one will be played on October 19, and the final to be played on 25.

India will then host South Africa for three ODI matches. It will continue on November 30, and will continue till December 6. The ODI series will be played right after the two-match Test series in Kolkata and Guwahati respectively.

Following South Africa, New Zealand will tour India for another series comprising three matches. It will start next year on January 11 and will continue till 18th.

Thereafter Afghanistan will be touring India for a three-match series, of which the dates are not yet confirmed. India will then tour England for another three-match ODI series following a five-match T20I series.

India will play a few more three match series after these, however the dates are not confirmed yet. The countries India will play against are:

So far, these are the confirmed ODI series India will play before India travels to South Africa for the 2027 ODI World Cup scheduled in October 2027. In that case, BCCI might add some more ODI matches for preparations. If not, India will be playing around 24 ODI matches before the World Cup.