LAHORE: The International Cricket Council has reportedly finalised the schedule of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, with a high-octane encounter between arch-rivals Pakistan and India slated for February 15.
As per Indian media reports, the 10th edition of the men’s T20 World Cup is likely to be played between February 7 and March 8, with India and Sri Lanka confirmed as co-hosts for the tournament featuring 20 teams. The ICC is anticipated to officially announce the schedule on November 25.
Pakistan and India are reportedly placed in the same Group alongside the United States, Namibia, and Netherlands. The arch-rivals will face each other on February 15 in Colombo, while Pakistan will play all its matches in Sri Lanka.
Teams are divided into four groups of five, with the top two from each group advancing to the Super Eight stage, which will then be split into two groups of four.
The top two sides from each Super Eight group will move on to the semi-finals.
India enter the competition as defending champions, having defeated South Africa in the final in Barbados earlier this year.
Notably, all 20 teams set to participate in the mega event have already been confirmed, with the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) qualification last month.
The final is likely to be held in Ahmedabad or Colombo, depending on whether Pakistan qualifies, given that India and Pakistan are currently not playing bilateral cricket due to political tensions.
The UAE joined Nepal and Oman as the final three teams to qualify for next year’s T20 World Cup 2026 from the Asia-EAP region.
Alongside hosts India and Sri Lanka, the other teams with automatic qualification include the top seven sides from the 2024 T20 World Cup: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, the United States, and West Indies.
The three teams that qualified based on their T20I rankings are Pakistan, New Zealand, and Ireland.
Regional qualifiers also secured their places: Canada claimed the lone Americas spot, while Italy (making their T20 World Cup debut) and the Netherlands qualified from Europe.
Namibia and Zimbabwe grabbed the two spots from the Africa qualifier.
