NEW DELHI, Nov 25: India and Pakistan have been drawn in the same group for the next year’s T20 World Cup and will meet on February 15 in Colombo, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Tuesday. Defending champions India join Pakistan in Group A of the 20-team tournament to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
The event will follow the 2024 format: four groups of five, leading to a Super Eights stage, with the top two from each group advancing to the semis. The final is scheduled for March 8 in Ahmedabad, with a possible move to Colombo if Pakistan reach it. …
The former India captain Rohit Sharma, who had led India to the T20 World Cup title win in 2024 before retiring from the format, was on Tuesday named the tournament ambassador for the 2026 edition to be held in India and Sri Lanka. Rohit was prolific for India in T20Is, ending with 4231 runs at an average of 32.01 and a strike-rate of 140.89.
The tournament is set to be played from February 7 to March 8. The tournament will take place at eight venues across India and Sri Lanka, ICC chairman Jay Shah announced during the T20 World Cup schedule announcement event in Kolkata on Tuesday.
The venues for the event from India are Arun Jaitley Stadium (Delhi), Narendra Modi Stadium (Ahmedabad), M. A. Chidambaram Stadium (Chennai), Eden Gardens (Kolkata) and Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai). Whereas the venues from Sri Lanka are R. Premadasa Stadium, Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo and Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.
The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru will not host any matches. The development comes despite the venue only recently reopening for cricket after a prolonged suspension following a fatal stampede in June.
The tournament will feature 55 matches in Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Colombo and Kandy. Reigning champions India will open their campaign against USA in Mumbai on February 7 before facing Namibia in Delhi on February 12. They will then head to the Sri Lankan capital for the high-voltage clash against Pakistan before concluding their league engagements against the Netherlands in Ahmedabad on February 18.
This will be the first edition of the tournament since Suryakumar Yadav took over at the helm of the side, with a number of key players including Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Verma likely to make their maiden appearances in international cricket’s top T20I competition.
Rohit Sharma reflected on the honour of being named the tournament’s brand ambassador, calling it a “great privilege” and a first for an active cricketer. He expressed hope to recreate last year’s magic, recalling his 18-year career, two early ICC titles, and the determination needed to secure recent ICC trophies.
“Great privilege for me. Great honour. While playing (still being an active player), no one has been named as an ambassador in cricket. Hope to create same magic as last year. Huge task to win ICC trophy: have experienced personally. Have completed 18 years in cricket. Won two ICC trophies at the beginning at the career and then a couple now over the last couple of years. But we remember how desperate we were as a team and as the management to win ICC trophies in the middle years,” Rohit said.
India has been drawn in Group A along with Pakistan, USA, Netherlands, and Namibia. Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka as per the agreement reached between the BCCI and PCB for the tournament.
Groups
Group A: India, Pakistan, USA, Netherlands, Namibia
Group B: Australia, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Oman
Group C: England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Nepal, Italy
Group D: New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, Canada, UAE
India’s full schedule
India vs USA (Mumbai) – February 7
India vs Namibia (Delhi) – February 12
India vs Pakistan (Colombo) – February 15
India vs Netherlands (Ahmedabad) – February 18
Venues
India: Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai
Sri Lanka: Colombo (R. Premadasa Stadium and Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground), Kandy
Following is the complete schedule:
February 7: Pakistan vs Netherlands in Colombo at 11:00 AM
February 7: West Indies vs Bangladesh in Kolkata at 3:00 PM
February 7: India vs USA in Mumbai at 7:00 PM
February 8: New Zealand vs Afghanistan in Chennai at 3:00 PM
February 8: England vs Nepal in Mumbai at 7:00 PM
February 8: Sri Lanka vs Ireland in Colombo at 7:00 PM
February 9: Bangladesh vs Italy in Kolkata at 11:00 AM
February 9: Zimbabwe vs Oman in Colombo at 3:00 PM
February 9: South Africa vs Canada in Ahmedabad at 7:00 PM
February 10: Netherlands vs Namibia in Ahmedabad at 11:00 AM
February 10: New Zealand vs UAE in Chennai at 3:00 PM
February 10: Pakistan vs UAE in Colombo at 7:00 PM
February 11: South Africa vs Afghanistan in Ahmedabad at 3:00 PM
February 11: Australia vs Ireland in Colombo at 7:00 PM
February 11: England vs West Indies in Mumbai at 7:00 PM
February 12: Sri Lanka vs Oman in Kandy at 3:00 PM
February 12: Nepal vs Italy in Mumbai at 7:00 PM
February 12: India vs Namibia in Delhi at 7:00 PM
February 13: Australia vs Zimbabwe in Colombo at 3:00 PM
February 13: Canada vs Namibia in Colombo at 7:00 PM
February 13: USA vs Netherlands in Chennai at 7:00 PM
February 14: Ireland vs Oman in Colombo at 11:00 AM
February 14: England vs Bangladesh in Kolkata at 3:00 PM
February 14: New Zealand vs South Africa in Ahmedabad at 7:00 PM
February 15: West Indies vs Nepal in Mumbai at 11:00 AM
February 15: USA vs Namibia in Chennai at 3:00 PM
February 15: India vs Pakistan in Colombo at 7:00 PM
February 16: Afghanistan vs UAE in Delhi at 11:00 AM
February 16: England vs Italy in Kolkata at 3:00 PM
February 16: Australia vs Sri Lanka in Kandy at 7:00 PM
February 17: New Zealand vs Canada in Chennai at 3:00 PM
February 17: Ireland vs Zimbabwe in Kandy at 7:00 PM
February 18: Bangladesh vs Nepal in Mumbai at 11:00 AM
February 18: South Africa vs UAE in Delhi at 3:00 PM
February 18: Pakistan vs Namibia in Colombo at 3:00 PM
February 18: India vs Netherlands in Ahmedabad at 7:00 PM
February 19: Italy vs West Indies in Kolkata at 3:00 PM
February 19: Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe in Colombo at 7:00 PM
February 20: Afghanistan vs Canada in Chennai at 3:00 PM
February 20: Australia vs Oman in Kandy at 7:00 PM
February 22: Y1 vs Y4 in Kandy at 3:00 PM
February 23: X2 vs X3 in Ahmedabad at 7:00 PM
February 24: Y2 vs Y3 in Mumbai at 7:00 PM
February 25: X1 vs X4 in Colombo at 7:00 PM
February 26: Y3 vs Y4 in Ahmedabad at 3:00 PM
February 27: X2 vs X4 in Chennai at 7:00 PM
February 28: Y1 vs Y2 in Colombo at 3:00 PM
March 1: X1 vs X3 in Kolkata at 7:00 PM
March 4: Semi Final 1 in Kolkata/Colombo (Time TBC)
March 5: Semi Final 2 in Mumbai (Time TBC)
March 8: Final in Ahmedabad/Colombo (Time TBC)
(Manas Dasgupta)