Swiss Indoors Basel 2026: entry list, dates and the race to the ATP Finals

The ATP Tour's European indoor swing reaches its biggest week of the autumn on Monday, 26 October, when the Swiss Indoors in Basel and the Erste Bank Open in Vienna - both ATP 500 events - begin. With the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin starting 15 November, this is one of the last big chances to bank ranking points.

Who is playing in Basel

The entry list released by the tournament is led by world number 4 Ben Shelton and number 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime, with Arthur Fils (9) and Taylor Fritz (12) also in the field. Casper Ruud, Joao Fonseca, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Ugo Humbert add depth, and the wild cards carry the nostalgia: Stan Wawrinka gets a home wildcard, while Holger Rune, working his way back from injury, is listed for a protected spot.

It is a genuinely stacked ATP 500 - eight of the current top 30 are on the direct acceptance list.

Further down the list are names who have all won tour titles: Alexander Bublik, Jiri Lehecka, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Alex Michelsen, Denis Shapovalov and Hubert Hurkacz. Vienna, played the same week, traditionally pulls a similar calibre of field, so fans get two strong draws running in parallel.

What is at stake

An ATP 500 title is worth 500 ranking points, and at this stage of the season every one of them matters. The top eight singles players qualify for Turin, and the final spots in the race are typically decided in these very weeks - Basel, Vienna and then the Paris Masters from 2 November. A deep run in Switzerland or Austria can change a season; an early exit can end one.

The venues

Basel's St. Jakobshalle is one of the tour's most famous indoor arenas - Roger Federer's home tournament, where he won ten titles across his career. Vienna's Wiener Stadthalle has hosted the Austrian event since 1974 and routinely draws one of the strongest 500-level fields of the year. Both are played on indoor hard courts, rewarding first-strike tennis and tiebreak nerve.

The indoor season has its own rhythm. With no wind, no sun and a controlled climate, margins shrink: serve plus one ball decides most rallies, returners stand closer, and tiebreaks pile up. Players who finish the year strongly indoors often carry that form into the next season's Australian swing, which is why the seeds treat these weeks as far more than a victory lap.

What comes after

The winners will barely have time to celebrate: the Rolex Paris Masters, the final Masters 1000 of the year, starts on 2 November, and the season ends at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin from 15 to 22 November. Dates for all of these are on our international fixtures schedule.

Tournament details

• Swiss Indoors Basel (ATP 500): week of 26 October, St. Jakobshalle, Basel
• Erste Bank Open (ATP 500): week of 26 October, Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna
• Next stop: Rolex Paris Masters, from 2 November

Sources: the official Swiss Indoors Basel 2026 entry list and the ATP Tour 2026 calendar.

India Women v Zimbabwe ODI series: dates in IST, form and players to watch

India Women begin a three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe on Friday, 23 October, at Baroda, riding the confidence of a 3-0 T20I sweep in Raipur earlier this week. All three ODIs start at 2:00 PM IST.

Series dates in IST

• 1st ODI: Friday, 23 October, 2:00 PM, Baroda
• 2nd ODI: Sunday, 25 October, 2:00 PM, Baroda
• 3rd ODI: Wednesday, 28 October, 2:00 PM, Baroda

How the T20Is went

India were far too strong in the shortest format. In the third T20I on Tuesday, Harmanpreet Kaur produced a vintage innings - 91 not out off 41 balls, with ten fours and five sixes - and shared an 84-run stand with Shafali Verma, who made 69 off 37. India's 216 for 7 was their joint-third-highest T20I total, and Zimbabwe finished on 124 for 7 to lose by 92 runs. Nandani Sharma took 3 for 18.

Zimbabwe did not go quietly. Sharne Mayers fought hard for her 60, adding 82 with Beloved Biza, and the visitors pulled off some excellent catches. But across three matches they never got close to India's totals.

Why this series matters for India

Home series against developing sides are where India can test their bench and settle combinations, and the management used the T20Is exactly that way - resting senior players, shuffling the top order and giving young players like Nandani Sharma and Prema Rawat real responsibility. Expect the same approach in the ODIs, with places in the season's bigger contests there to be earned.

What changes in the 50-over format

The longer format asks different questions of both sides. India's middle order - Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma and others - got only brief hits in the T20Is, and captain Smriti Mandhana, who sat out the chase in the third game after resting herself from the XI on the day, will want solid time in the middle before tougher assignments later in the home season.

For Zimbabwe, 50 overs gives their batters more room to build the kind of partnerships Mayers and Biza showed in Raipur. The challenge will be sustaining it against India's experienced attack for a full innings.

Players to watch

Harmanpreet Kaur arrives in the ODIs in ominous touch after that 41-ball 91. Shafali Verma has been in form all year - the Raipur fifty was her ninth of 2026 in T20Is. For Zimbabwe, Sharne Mayers was the clear standout with the bat and will carry their hopes at the top.

Zimbabwe, meanwhile, get something just as valuable: three more matches against one of the strongest teams in the world. Their fielding in Raipur showed a side that is competitive in patches; the next step is turning those patches into full innings.

Full dates, venues and IST start times are on our international fixtures schedule.

Series details

• Series: India Women v Zimbabwe Women, 3 ODIs
• Dates: 23, 25 and 28 October 2026
• Start: 2:00 PM IST
• Venue: Baroda

Sources: BCCI home season 2026-27 schedule for fixtures; ESPNcricinfo match reports for the T20I series results.

US Grand Prix 2026: full weekend schedule in IST and a guide to COTA

Formula 1 heads to Austin this weekend for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas, round 19 of the 2026 season. For fans in India, every session is a late night or an early morning - here is the full weekend timetable converted to IST, plus a quick guide to the track.

Weekend schedule in IST

• Practice 1: Friday, 23 October, 11:00 PM IST
• Practice 2: Saturday, 24 October, 2:30 AM IST
• Practice 3: Saturday, 24 October, 11:00 PM IST
• Qualifying: Sunday, 25 October, 2:30 AM IST
• Race: Monday, 26 October, 1:30 AM IST

These are converted from the official F1 timetable. It is a standard race weekend - no sprint - so qualifying on Saturday evening in Austin decides the grid for Sunday's race.

How the weekend unfolds

Friday's two practice sessions are about tyre learning and long-run pace, and they matter more than usual in Austin because the track evolves quickly as rubber goes down. Saturday's final practice is the last chance to tune qualifying trim before the grid is set. For Indian viewers the kindest session is Practice 1 at 11:00 PM on Friday night; the race itself needs an alarm - lights out is 1:30 AM in the early hours of Monday.

The track: Circuit of The Americas

COTA joined the calendar in 2012, bringing the United States Grand Prix back after the 2007 race at Indianapolis. More than 100,000 fans packed the venue that first year, and they saw Lewis Hamilton take his final win for McLaren before his move to Mercedes.

The lap is one of the most complete tests on the calendar. The uphill run into Turn 1 is the signature corner, the first sector flows through a fast sequence of direction changes, and the long back straight gives the DRS overtaking zone that produces most of the moves. Tyre wear and track position usually decide the strategy battle in the Austin heat.

The lap rewards bravery. Drivers talk about the commitment needed through the fast opening sector, where the corners come one after another with no time to breathe, and about how easy it is to cook the rear tyres in the slower final sector if the balance is off. Get the setup wrong and the car is quick in one part of the lap and helpless in the other.

What is at stake

The drivers' title can be settled this weekend - we broke down exactly how Kimi Antonelli can win the 2026 championship in Austin in our earlier preview. Mexico City follows next weekend, 30 October to 1 November, so the title race could be over before the season even leaves North America.

For every session time in one place, keep our international fixtures schedule open through the weekend.

Race details

• Event: United States Grand Prix 2026
• Venue: Circuit of The Americas, Austin
• Race: Sunday, 25 October (1:30 AM IST, Monday 26 October)

Sources: the official Formula 1 United States Grand Prix timetable and race page for session times and circuit history.

New Zealand v India, 1st T20I: Hagley Oval preview, IST start time and the champions' return

Seven months after they met in the T20 World Cup final in Ahmedabad, India and New Zealand start a five-match T20I series on Thursday, 22 October, at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. The first match begins at 12:30 PM IST (8:00 PM local), under lights.

A lot has happened since that final, but the memory of it will follow both teams into this series.

The final that hangs over this series

India won the 2026 T20 World Cup by beating New Zealand by 96 runs on 8 March. The scorecard still reads emphatically: India 255 for 5, New Zealand 159. Abhishek Sharma made 52 and Ishan Kishan 54 in that total, and India's bowlers then ran through the chase in 19 overs.

For New Zealand, this home series is the first real chance to answer that defeat in front of their own crowd. For India, it is about playing like champions away from home, in conditions that have rarely been kind to visiting batters.

What to expect at Hagley Oval

The series opener is an 8:00 PM start in Christchurch, so the ball is likely to move around early under lights. Hagley Oval has traditionally rewarded disciplined pace bowling, and both attacks will fancy their chances with a new ball in hand. New Zealand's attack in the World Cup final included Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner, and the home side will lean on that kind of experience again.

The outfield is quick and the square boundaries are short enough to keep power hitters interested, so a high-scoring game is just as possible as a bowler-dominated one if batters get through the new-ball spell.

What each team is playing for

India arrive as world champions and the stronger T20I side on recent evidence. The question for them is combination and continuity: which of the World Cup core keeps its place, and who pushes in from the fringes during a long tour.

New Zealand's incentive is simpler. Five T20Is at home against the side that beat them in a world final is a chance to reset the rivalry before the teams meet again in the ODI leg of this tour.

Players to watch

For India, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan set up that World Cup final win with half-centuries at the top, and both have the game for New Zealand's pace-friendly conditions. Watch how India's top order handles the first six overs.

For New Zealand, Tim Seifert, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry all featured in the March final and know this ground well. Santner's left-arm spin through the middle overs and Henry's new-ball spell are the two phases where the hosts can squeeze India.

The tour ahead

After the T20Is - 22, 24, 27 and 30 October, and 1 November - the teams play five ODIs from 4 November and then two Tests in late November. Dates, venues and IST start times for every match are on our international fixtures schedule, and you can read our full T20I series guide for squads and the bigger picture.

Match details

• Match: New Zealand v India, 1st T20I
• Date: Thursday, 22 October 2026
• Start: 12:30 PM IST (8:00 PM local)
• Venue: Hagley Oval, Christchurch

Sources: New Zealand Cricket's 2026-27 international schedule for dates and venues; ESPNcricinfo for the 2026 T20 World Cup final scorecard.

Sri Lanka v England, tri-series 3rd ODI: preview, start time in IST and what each team needs

Sri Lanka and England meet at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday, 22 October, in the third match of the Pakistan ODI tri-series - and both sides are already running out of room. Pakistan have won both of their games, so the loser of this one will be under serious pressure before the series moves to Lahore. The match starts at 1:30 PM IST.

Here is what has happened so far, what Thursday means for each team, and what to watch.

How the series stands

Pakistan have made a near-perfect start as hosts. In the opener on 18 October they posted 305 and beat Sri Lanka by 37 runs. Two days later they went further, making 302 for 9 against England and then bowling the visitors out for 215 to win by 87 runs.

The second game had a clear pattern. Pakistan's top order wobbled early, but Hasan Nawaz held the innings together with 79, the highest score of the match, while wicketkeeper Saad Baig added 35 and Babar Azam 34. England's chase then collapsed in the middle overs. After a 91-run opening stand, the innings fell away sharply once the first wicket went down, and the last five wickets added very little. From a strong platform to 215 all out, it was a defeat that will sting.

What Sri Lanka need

Sri Lanka's problem in the first match was not effort but the final few overs of both innings. Chasing 306, they stayed in touch for long periods before finishing on 268. Against an England attack that Pakistan have already scored 302 against, their batters have a real chance to post or chase a big score.

The key for Sri Lanka is converting starts. Their top order got them close in a 300-plus chase once already in this series. If one of them bats deep into the innings on Thursday, the game opens up.

What England need

England's batting card against Pakistan told its own story: a bright start, then a slide. The middle order never settled against disciplined bowling, and the tail was exposed far too early. Harry Brook and Joe Root are exactly the players England will want more from in Rawalpindi.

There is also a leadership question. Losing by 87 runs after being well placed in a chase forces a rethink, whether that is about intent against spin in the middle overs or simply better shot selection under pressure.

The bigger picture

This tri-series is short - six league games and a final on 31 October - so every match carries weight. A Pakistan win for Sri Lanka or England here would all but end realistic hopes of making the final without help from other results. After Thursday, the tournament shifts to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, where Pakistan face England again on 25 October.

For the full fixture list with IST start times, including the Lahore leg and the final, see our schedule of major international fixtures.

Match details

• Match: Sri Lanka v England, 3rd ODI, Pakistan tri-series
• Date: Thursday, 22 October 2026
• Start: 1:30 PM IST (1:00 PM local)
• Venue: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi

Sources: Pakistan Cricket Board tri-series page and ECB schedule announcement for the fixtures; ESPNcricinfo scorecards for the results of matches one and two.

US Grand Prix 2026: how Antonelli can win the F1 title in Austin, with IST times

Formula 1 is back in Austin this weekend for Round 18 of the 2026 season, and for the first time this year the drivers' title can be settled. Kimi Antonelli has been the story of the season, and the Circuit of The Americas gives him his first shot at closing it out. Here is how the maths works, who else matters, and when to watch from India.

What Antonelli needs

Antonelli leads Mercedes team-mate George Russell by 102 points with six rounds left and 150 points still available. Formula 1's own reading is that he can end the fight in Austin if he leaves the weekend 125 points or more clear of his nearest rival (Formula 1).

The simple version is that he has to win the race. Anything less and the celebrations wait at least another week. If he does win, Russell must finish ninth or lower, and Lewis Hamilton, who is third in the standings, must finish no higher than fifth (Formula 1). All of that has to line up on one afternoon, so it is a long shot. If it does happen, motorsport.com notes he would be champion with five rounds to spare, one short of the record Michael Schumacher set in 2002 (motorsport.com).

Why Verstappen is worth watching

Max Verstappen is fourth in the championship, 119 points behind, so his own title hopes are nearly gone. He is still the form driver of the moment. He won the last two races and also took the Singapore Sprint, and Formula 1 says he was just seven points from a maximum score across the last triple header. Antonelli himself called a closer Verstappen "very, very scary". In Austin, Verstappen needs Antonelli to be outscored by six points or more to stay mathematically alive (Formula 1). He also won here last year.

Where Mercedes stand

Antonelli finished third in Singapore after moving up from fourth when Hamilton and Lando Norris collided in a late fight. He said the car package is finally showing "the light at the end of the tunnel", though he also admitted he struggled on the medium tyre. Russell went back to an older car package that weekend and still recovered to ninth from the back of the grid (Formula 1).

Session times in IST

The race weekend runs 23 to 25 October at the Circuit of The Americas. Our times are converted from the local Austin times that Formula 1 lists: Practice 1 on Friday 23 October at 11:00 PM IST, Practice 2 on Saturday at 2:30 AM, Practice 3 on Saturday at 11:00 PM, Qualifying on Sunday 25 October at 2:30 AM and the race on Monday 26 October at 1:30 AM IST. Because the race is on Sunday afternoon in Texas, it falls in the early hours of Monday for viewers in India. The full list sits on our Schedule page, and the Formula 1 page has the standings. Times can change, so check the official Formula 1 schedule before you set an alarm.

International sport today, 19 October: SA v Aus Test day 2 and five tennis tournaments (IST)

Monday 19 October is a lighter day for international sport. There is one Test match in progress, five tennis tournaments getting going, and no men's international football at all. Here is what is on, with times in IST. This is a list of the major international events we could confirm, not every match in the world.

Cricket: South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, day 2 (Gqeberha)

Play is scheduled to start at 10:00 local time, which is 1:30 PM IST. Rain wrecked most of day 1. After a 90-minute delay, only 12.2 overs were possible, and South Africa ended on 20 for 2. Scott Boland, who came in for Nathan Lyon, took two wickets in consecutive balls to remove Aiden Markram and David Bedingham, leaving captain Temba Bavuma and debutant Marques Ackerman at the crease. It was the first time since 2013 that Lyon missed a Test he was available for (Cricinfo match report, Fox Sports).

Australia lead the three-Test series 1-0 after winning in Durban by 214 runs. The forecast offers some hope of play later in the day, so the start time can slip. The match runs to 22 October (ICC).

Tennis: five tournaments begin

The week of 19 to 25 October has three ATP 250 events, the Almaty Open in Kazakhstan, the Grand Prix Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes in Lyon and the European Open in Brussels, plus two WTA events, the Ningbo Open in China (WTA 500) and the Japan Open in Osaka (WTA 250). The ATP pages show qualifying under way on Monday, and the WTA lists both of its events as running from 19 October. In Lyon, the first session on Centre Court is scheduled to start at 11:00 local time, which is 2:30 PM IST. Orders of play change late in the day, so use the official pages for exact match times: Lyon, Almaty, Brussels, Ningbo and Osaka.

What is not on today

There are no India matches today. India Women play Zimbabwe in the third T20I tomorrow, Tuesday 20 October, at 7:00 PM IST in Raipur, and Pakistan face England in the tri-series at 1:30 PM IST in Rawalpindi the same day. Men's international football is on a break until the window of 9 to 17 November. Both dates are on our Schedule page, which we update every morning.

Times and conditions can change, especially with rain in Gqeberha, so check the official links before you plan around anything.

India v New Zealand T20I series: dates in IST, squads and what to watch

India's men start a long tour of New Zealand this week, and it opens with five T20Is. The first one is on Thursday 22 October. Here is what is confirmed so far, with the start times in IST so you do not have to convert anything.

The five T20Is

New Zealand Cricket's announced schedule has these five matches: 22 October in Christchurch, 24 October in Christchurch, 27 October in Wellington, 30 October in Auckland and 1 November in Hamilton (ICC). The BCCI match centre lists the first two at 7:00 am UTC, which is 12:30 PM IST, at Hagley Oval (1st T20I, 2nd T20I). We have not seen start times for the last three yet, so we are not guessing them. They will go on our Schedule page once the official match pages carry them.

India's squad

The BCCI named a 16-man T20I squad on 6 October with Shreyas Iyer as captain and Tilak Varma as vice-captain. The rest of the group: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav (BCCI).

It is a young, batting-heavy group, with Abhishek, Samson, Kishan and Sooryavanshi all in the mix for the top order. The spin department has Axar, Varun and Kuldeep, while Arshdeep, Bhuvneshwar, Prince and Mayank share the fast-bowling load. How many of those four seamers play on the Christchurch pitch is one question to watch on Thursday.

New Zealand's side

Mitchell Santner captains the Blackcaps. They lost two players to injury before the series: Mark Chapman (hamstring) and Zak Foulkes (hip flexor). Josh Clarkson and Blair Tickner were called in to replace them. NZC says Chapman is on track to be available for the ODIs. The updated T20I squad is Santner, Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Clarkson, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Nathan Smith and Tickner (NZC).

Why this series feels bigger than five T20Is

The T20Is are only the start. The full tour is five T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests, a 12-game itinerary that the ICC reports is set to be the largest international tour in NZC history by number of matches. It is India's first Test cricket in New Zealand since 2019 and their first white-ball assignment there since 2022 (ICC).

There is also the recent history. These two teams met in the T20 World Cup final in Ahmedabad on 8 March 2026, and India won by 96 runs. Both squads have changed a lot since then, so this is not a rematch of that team sheet.

How to follow it on this site

Our home page has live cards for cricket. Those cards show Pakistan and India Women at the moment, so for the New Zealand series use the official BCCI match centre for the live score. We will add the New Zealand v India fixtures to the Schedule page as each start time is confirmed, and all times there are in IST.

Squads and timings can change, especially with injuries already in the news. Check the official links above before you plan around a match.

Cricket on Sunday 18 October: SA v Aus Test, Pakistan v Sri Lanka ODI and India Women v Zimbabwe (IST)

Sunday 18 October is a full day of international cricket. Two matches start at 1:30 PM IST, and a third follows at 7:00 PM. Here is what is on, what led into each game, and the times in IST.

1:30 PM IST: South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha

Australia lead the three-Test series 1-0. They won the opener in Durban by 214 runs after Matt Renshaw's 190 lifted them from 230 for 8 to 390, and Josh Hazlewood took six wickets in South Africa's second innings. This second Test runs from 18 to 22 October at St George's Park, and the third is in Cape Town from 27 to 31 October (ICC).

South Africa coach Shukri Conrad said his side need to show more composure and that changes were an option. Matthew Breetzke replaces Tristan Stubbs in the squad for this Test, and Kagiso Rabada is working his way back from a hamstring injury. Conrad's own words on Rabada were hopeful rather than a confirmation that he plays, so check the toss and team sheets.

1:30 PM IST: Pakistan v Sri Lanka, tri-series opener, Rawalpindi

This is the first match of the ODI tri-series between Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka. The PCB says every match starts at 1:00 PM Pakistan time, with the toss at 12:30 PM, which makes it 1:30 PM IST. Pakistan are led by Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has captained them in 11 ODIs and won seven. England's captain is Harry Brook and Sri Lanka's is Kusal Mendis (PCB).

The head-to-head favours Pakistan by a long way. In 160 ODIs against Sri Lanka they have won 96, with one tie and four no results. The PCB also notes that Pakistan have won three of their last four ODI series, and that this is the fourth tri-nation series Pakistan has hosted, after 1994, 2004 and 2025. The seven-match event ends with a final in Lahore on 31 October.

7:00 PM IST: India Women v Zimbabwe Women, 2nd T20I, Raipur

India Women lead the three-match series 1-0 after a four-wicket win in the first game on Friday. Zimbabwe made 114 for 5, and India got there on 116 for 6 in 15.4 overs, but only after falling to 19 for 4 against a tight spell from Nyasha Gwanzura (3 for 18). Niki Prasad, on debut, and Deepti Sharma steadied the chase. It was also Smriti Mandhana's first match as full-time captain (ICC, BCCI scorecard).

A win tonight would settle the T20I series before the third match on Tuesday 20 October. The three ODIs follow in Baroda from 23 October.

Where to follow it

Our home page has live cards for cricket, and every date and time sits on the Schedule page. The live cards are a third-party feed and can lag, so use the official ICC, PCB or BCCI pages for the score that counts. Squads can change on the morning of a match, and this post reflects official reports up to Sunday morning.