Arch-rivals India and Pakistan have been placed in the same group for the 2026 T20 World Cup, the International Cricket Council confirmed while announcing the tournament’s schedule on Tuesday.
The clash between the neighbouring countries prevails as box office in yet another ICC tournament, with the side’s set to meet again on February 15 in Colombo for the Group ‘A’ match.
The group also features Namibia, Netherlands and USA.
The T20 World Cup is set to run from February 7 to March 8 across eight venues; five in India and three in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka. If they don’t reach the final, the decider will be held in Ahmedabad.
The format of the tournament will be the same as the 2024 edition, with the top two sides from each of the four groups to qualify for a Super Eight stage.
The top four teams from the Super Eight stage will play the semi-finals.
Apart from hosts India and Sri Lanka, the other 18 teams participating in the T20 World Cup are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, United States of America, West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Oman and UAE.
Sharma named Brand Ambassador
Meanwhile, the ICC said it had named India’s former captain Rohit Sharma as the tournament’s ambassador.
Sharma was prolific for India in T20Is, finishing with 4231 runs at an average of 32.01 and a strike-rate of 140.89.
“He is one of the few players to have been part of two successful Men’s T20 World Cup campaigns, the first of which came in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2007, while the latter came in the latest edition of the tournament in 2024,” read the ICC statement.
