New Delhi, Feb 7 Jay Shah, chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), extended his wishes for all the participating sides of the Men’s T20 World Cup as the tournament gets underway on Saturday with the first match between Pakistan and the Netherlands.
Co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, the 2026 tournament will include 20 teams and 55 matches, promising a month of incredible cricket.
“Six different champions already in nine editions of the @ICC Men’s @T20WorldCup. Wishing the teams the very best of luck as they battle for the crown over 55 exciting matches in India and Sri Lanka!” Shah wrote on X.
The tournament begins on Saturday in Colombo, with Pakistan facing the Netherlands. Later that day, the focus shifts to Kolkata for the match between the West Indies and Scotland at Eden Gardens. The opening day wraps up with a game in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium between defending champions India and the USA, promising an exciting start to the competition.
Matches will take place at eight venues across India and Sri Lanka: Narendra Modi Stadium (Ahmedabad), MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chennai), Arun Jaitley Stadium (New Delhi), Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai), Eden Gardens (Kolkata), R. Premadasa Stadium (Colombo), Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground (Colombo), and Pallekele International Cricket Stadium (Kandy).
The venue for the summit clash has not yet been confirmed, but it is scheduled for March 8 in either Ahmedabad or Colombo.
As with the previous edition of the tournament, held two years ago with the USA and West Indies as hosts, 20 teams will again participate. The teams will be divided into four equal groups, with each team playing at least four matches against the other members of their group.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super 8 stage, which will feature two groups of four teams each. In this stage, teams will play against all other teams in their group, with the top two from each group moving on. The final four will then compete in the knockout stage, with the winners of each semi-final advancing to the final.
--IANS
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