The 2026 men’s T20 World Cup is the next major ICC tournament, scheduled for early next year. Co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, this 20-team extravaganza is likely to begin on February 7, with the final scheduled just over a month later on March 8. While five venues in India would host its scheduled matches, including one of the semis and the final, two from Sri Lanka will stage the scheduled games in the Island Nation. The grand finale would either be in Ahmedabad or Colombo (depending on Pakistan’s position in the tournament) because of a mutual agreement between India and Pakistan not to tour each other’s country for any bilateral or ICC/ACC event due to the tense geopolitical situation.
While the ICC continues to work on the final draft of the schedule, an ESPNcricinfo report suggests that the format will be similar to that of the past edition (in the Americas in 2024), where 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five each. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Eights, where once again the eight teams will be divided into two groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group will then advance to the semis, with the respective winners qualifying for the finals.
Team India is the defending champion, having beaten South Africa in a tense final in Barbados.
So far, 15 teams have qualified for the tournament, including India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, the USA, West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands and Italy. Of the five remaining teams, two will qualify from the Africa regional qualifier, and three from the Asia and East Asia Pacific qualifier.
Meanwhile, the BCCI and India have plenty at their disposal in the first quarter of 2026. Starting with the WPL, the schedule of which hasn’t been finalised yet, India will stage and co-host several other marquee tournaments, including the 2026 T20 World Cup.
While the board has kept the January-February window for the five-team tournament, after which the 2026 T20 WC gets underway, the marquee IPL 2026 would likely begin a week after the final, with its tentative window being March 15 to May 31.
On the international calendar front, India will host New Zealand for a short white-ball series from January 11 to 31.