cricket’s biggest carnival never gets better than this – India and Pakistan will clash in one of the matches of 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup on February 15 at Cricbuzz Colombo. The match, where will be huge TV ratings drawcards, is the first clash between the two sides since they met in two brutal encounters at the 2025 edition of the Asia Cup. Both sides are in the same pool as USA, Netherlands and Namibia in a challenging but balanced group.
India open their T20 World Cup 2020 campaign in Mumbai, against the USA on February 7, which is the first day of the tournament. They will then head to Delhi on the 13th for their second game against Namibia. Next on all screens, 0 February 15 vs Pakistan at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo – the famously charged venue during crunch matches. India´s last group game will be against the Netherlands in Ahmedabad on February 18, rounding off a jam-packed schedule with three matches taking place in different venues every day.
The 2026 edition of the tournament will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8, again using a format identical to that for the 2024 event. Pairs 20 sides have been split into five groups of four with the top two from each group going through to the Super Eights. This second stage will once again divide the qualifiers into two groups of four and the leading pair from each will reach the semi-finals. The final will be played in Ahmedabad, but could move to Colombo if Pakistan play the title-clash, due to logistical reasons.
If India advance to the Super Eight, they will play games in Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata. A semi-final berth would put them in Mumbai – one of the semi-final hosting venues. The other semi-final will be in Colombo or Kolkata depending on the fortunes of Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the tournament.
Parallel to these followers, the likes of Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa – as well as former champions West Indies – would need to fend off aspiring sides in Italy, Canada Oman and Nepal among those who could threaten a shot at the 2026 T20 World Cup. Defending champions India will carry the weight of expectations as they aim to retain the trophy in Barbados, where 17 matches are scheduled to be played across nine venues from January 14 to February 5.