Mumbai: Defending champions India will open their campaign in the group stage against minnows United States of America at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 7, 2026.
India are in Group A with the Netherlands, Namibia, USA and arch rival Pakistan .
No country has ever defended their title in the T20 World Cup so far and hosts India will be hoping to become the first country to do so. The competition will be jointly organised by India and Sri Lanka.
This will be the biggest T20 World Cup in the history of the game so far, as for the first time, 20 teams will be in the fray. The 20 teams will play 55 matches in all across eight venues in India and Sri Lanka from February 7, 2026, ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta announced in Mumbai on Tuesday as the ICC revealed the full schedule of the tournament in the presence of ICC Chair Jay Shah, two-time T20 WC winner Rohit Sharma, India T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav, newly crowned Women's ODI World Cup winner Harmanpreet Kaur and cricket administrators from India and Sri Lanka.
Matches will be played at eight venues -- the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, and MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
In Sri Lanka, matches will be played at the R. Premadasa Stadium, the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, and the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy.
The 20 teams have been divided into four groups of five teams each.
The top two teams from each group will progress to the Super Eight stage, split into two groups of four. From there, the top two in each Super Eight pool advance to the semifinals before the March 8 final determines the 2026 champion.
India's T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav termed the event challenging and said his teammates are excited to be playing at home. (IANS)
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