• Source:JND
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ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: The upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup will be hosted by India and Sri Lanka and is expected to feature 20 teams starting from February 7 to March 8, as per a report by ESPNcricinfo. The report stated that the games will be held in five venues, with three located in India and two in Sri Lanka. The location of the final will be decided on whether Pakistan qualifies or not.

The expected location of the final could be in Ahmedabad or Colombo.

It is worth noting that India and Pakistan have decided not to play on each other's soil.

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BCCI stuck to their policy of not travelling to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, which also forced Pakistan to implement a policy to address this matter. As per the policy, both countries will refrain from crossing borders to compete in ICC tournaments.

The report also stated that a time frame has been identified and will be communicated to participating boards. The tournament format will mirror that of the 2024 T20 World Cup held in the USA and the West Indies, which included 55 matches.

The 20 teams will be organized into four groups of five, competing to advance to the Super Eight stage. The eight qualifying teams will then be split into two groups of four, with the top two from each group moving on to the semi-finals. 

As of now, 15 teams have booked their seats for the marquee event featuring India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, USA, West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, Netherlands and Italy, who have qualified for a World Cup for the first time.

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Out of the five, two teams will come through the Africa regional qualifier, and three from the Asia and East Asia Pacific qualifier. India is hosting several top-tier tournaments, including the Women's Premier League and the Indian Premier League. The five-team WPL will be hosted before the World Cup, while the tentative window for IPL is March 15 to May 31.

Inputs from Agencies