By Admin 
Arch-rivals India and Pakistan have been placed in Group A for the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup and as per the schedule released on Tuesday, the two teams will face each other on February 15 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
After the Pahalgam terror attack in April this year, the Indian government has banned all bilateral sports events with Pakistan, but has allowed matches between the two countries in multinational events.
BCCI (Indian Cricket Board) and PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) have agreed to face each other only at neutral venues until the FTP (Future Tour Programme) is realigned in 2027, so Pakistan will play all its matches in Sri Lanka, including the match against India at the R Premadasa Stadium.
Despite the India-Pakistan rivalry being one-sided over the past few years, the rivalry continues to attract widespread interest globally. Recently, there were three India-Pakistan matches including the final of the Asia Cup played in T20 format and all the matches were scheduled on Sunday to increase the viewership.
The tournament, which will run from February 7 to March 8, will be organized at eight venues. Of these, five will be from India and three from Sri Lanka. There will be a total of 55 matches in the tournament of twenty teams. This also includes Italy playing for the first time. The teams will be divided into four groups of five each, out of which eight teams will reach the Super Eight stage.
After this, four teams will reach the semi-finals, which will be played in Kolkata or Colombo and Mumbai. The final will be held in Ahmedabad or Colombo, depending on the situation in Pakistan.
Reigning champions India will start their campaign against America in Mumbai on February 7 and then face Namibia in Delhi on February 12.
The team will then go to Colombo for the match against Pakistan and then play its last league match against Netherlands in Ahmedabad on 18 February.
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav said, “Group (A) is looking very good. This is the T20 format, you never know which team will perform well on a given day. It depends on the good performance of two batsmen and the good performance of two bowlers.
He said, “We are playing on good grounds. Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad. And then you talk about the match on the 15th (against Pakistan), I think we played against them recently during the Asia Cup and we had a good time. Everything was completely focused on cricket, nothing else, as you might have seen.
Suryakumar said, “I am sure it will be a good match.” Players are always excited for the India-Pak match. ICC President Jay Shah made this announcement while unveiling the schedule of the tournament.
Group B includes Australia, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Oman, while Group C includes England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Nepal and Italy. Group D includes New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, Canada and UAE.
India’s legendary player Rohit Sharma was appointed tournament ambassador for this World Cup. Under the captaincy of Rohit, India won the title of the last T20 World Cup held in 2024.
Rohit has performed brilliantly for India in T20 international matches. He scored 4231 runs at an average of 32.01 and strike rate of 140.89.
Rohit had retired from the shortest international format of the game after India’s victory in the World Cup hosted by America and West Indies last year. India then won the ICC trophy after a long gap of 11 years.
Rohit said, “I keep meeting all these people. I am still playing. I am going to Ranchi (for the ODI matches against South Africa). I like to talk, discuss and understand their mentality.
The former India captain said, “I have always been someone who would give advice or just listen when needed.”