India is coming to Auckland: Full schedule revealed for cricket, football, hockey, Diwali
Suryakumar Yadav plays a shot during the 5th T20I match between India and New Zealand in India on January 31, 2026. (Faheem Hussain/CREIMAS for BCCI)
From the Black Caps and All Whites taking on India to Diwali, hockey, bowls and city-wide light displays, Auckland has revealed its sporting centenary programme.
Auckland will host more than a month of India-related sporting and cultural events, with cricket at Eden Park, an India-All Whites football match, international hockey and bowls, esports, Diwali celebrations and major landmarks lighting up across the city.
The Auckland programme for '100 Years of Unity Through Sport', marking a century of sporting connections between New Zealand and India, was released on Tuesday, laying out a busy calendar running from late October into November.
The sporting programme starts on October 23, when New Zealand’s national esports team, the E Blacks, begins a four-day test series against India at the Armageddon Expo.
A week later, attention moves to Eden Park, where the Black Caps will face India in a T20 on October 30, followed by another match at the same ground on November 4.
Between the two cricket matches, Aotea Square will host the BNZ Auckland Diwali Festival on October 31 and November 1, bringing one of the city’s biggest Indian community events into the centenary programme.
India is coming to Auckland: Full schedule revealed for cricket, football, hockey, Diwali From the Black Caps and All Whites taking on India to Diwali, hockey, bowls and city-wide light displays, Auckland has revealed its sporting centenary programme.
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Football will take centre stage on November 12 when the All Whites play India at Go Media Stadium. India and New Zealand will then meet at Royal Oak Bowls from November 16 to 18, when the Blackjacks take on India, before the Black Sticks play India in three hockey matches at Lloyd Elsmore Park on November 19, 21 and 22.
The celebrations will also be visible across Auckland’s skyline. Vector Lights will illuminate the Auckland Harbour Bridge on November 4, 12 and 13, while KZ1 will be lit on the same dates.
Eden Park, Viaduct Harbour, Sky Tower and ASB North Wharf will join the displays on November 12 and 13, while a special projection will run on Auckland Town Hall from November 2 to 15.
Indian cinema is also part of the programme, with free sports-film screenings planned at Silky Otter Cinemas. M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, the biopic of the former Indian cricket captain, is among the films confirmed, with further titles still to be announced.
The programme will extend into business and trade, with a two-day Business, Sport and Innovation Summit on November 12 and 13. Organisers say leaders from India and New Zealand will come together to explore opportunities in business, sport, innovation, education, research, tourism and investment.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said the programme reflected a relationship between the two countries that now extended well beyond sporting competition.
“We’re hosting some great international sport alongside cultural and business events that reflect the strong connections between our two countries,” Brown said.
“It’s a chance for Aucklanders to get behind the action, welcome visitors to our region and celebrate a relationship that has grown well beyond sport over the past 100 years.”
Tātaki Auckland Unlimited chief executive Nick Hill said Auckland’s Indian community now numbered more than 175,000 and the programme offered an opportunity to strengthen connections between communities as well as businesses.
“Aotearoa New Zealand and India have long enjoyed meeting on pitches, fields and greens. This centenary gives us an opportunity to celebrate a relationship that reaches well beyond the field of play,” Hill said.
The 100 Years of Unity Through Sport programme is an all-of-government initiative led by Sport New Zealand and supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Events Boost Fund.
Events are also being held in Christchurch, Hamilton, Tauranga and Wellington, with the wider programme running throughout 2026 and the main celebrations concentrated in October and November.
Full Auckland schedule
October 23–26: E Blacks v India esports test series at Armageddon Expo
October 30: Black Caps v India T20 at Eden Park
October 31–November 1: BNZ Auckland Diwali Festival at Aotea Square
November 2–15: Special projection on Auckland Town Hall
November 4: Black Caps v India T20 at Eden Park
November 4, 12 and 13: Auckland Harbour Bridge and KZ1 illuminated
November 12: All Whites v India at Go Media Stadium
November 12–13: Business, Sport and Innovation Summit
November 12–13: Eden Park, Viaduct Harbour, Sky Tower and ASB North Wharf illuminated
November 16–18: Blackjacks v India at Royal Oak Bowls
November 19, 21 and 22: Black Sticks v India at Lloyd Elsmore Park