The T20 World Cup is fast approaching and the excitement is palpable. Defending champions India will host the tournament next year, besides Sri Lanka and hence, the anticipation for the marquee tournament is even more.
The 2026 T20 World Cup will feature 20 teams and take place from Saturday, February 7, to Sunday, March 8, as per reports. All participating teams, including co-hosts India and Sri Lanka, have been confirmed, with Italy all set to make their tournament debut.
India enter the tournament as defending champions, having claimed the 2024 T20 World Cup title in the USA and the Windies. Led by Rohit Sharma, the Men in Blue ended a 17-year wait to lift the coveted trophy.
Before the T20 World Cup, India will play a T20I series against New
Zealand, which will be their last ahead of the marquee event.
“With only 10 T20Is left before the T20 World Cup, you would not see many changes happening in the squad proper unless someone is ruled out due to any specific injury,” a source recently told BCCI.
The five T20Is against New Zealand will be played in Nagpur (January 21), Raipur (January 23), Guwahati (January 25), Vizag (January) 28 and Trivandrum (January 31).
The upcoming T20I series against South Africa is expected to be Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav’s final opportunity to assess a few cricketers ahead of the New Zealand series, which will serve as a dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup.
All eyes will be on the India vs Pakistan match, with the arch-rivals reportedly set to be put in the same group despite continuing political tensions.
When and where will the T20 World Cup schedule be announced?
The ICC has confirmed that the 2026 T20 World Cup schedule will be unveiled in collaboration with the BCCI on Tuesday, November 25, in Mumbai. The announcement will start at 6:30 PM IST and will be attended by ICC Chairman Jay Shah.
The schedule announcement will be live-streamed on JioStar.
