ICC T20 World Cup 2026 opening ceremony venue finalized; schedule, date, time announced

T20 World Cup 2026 opening ceremony venue locked [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/x]

The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 is set to commence with a triple-header across three different venues on the opening day on February 7. While Pakistan and the Netherlands will complete in the tournament’s curtain-raiser in Colombo, the opening ceremony of the T20 World Cup will take place ahead of the third match of the day.

The third match of the competition, also the second from Group A, will be played between USA and co-hosts India at the Wankhede Stadium in the evening. The iconic Mumbai venue will also stage the opening ceremony of the 2026 T20 World Cup shortly before the action kicks off.

Wankhede Stadium to host T20 World Cup 2026 opening ceremony: Report

As reported by a Times of India journalist, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will host the opening ceremony of the T20 World Cup 2026. The opening spectacle will be organized on the first match day itself, shortly before the third game of an action-packed triple-header spanning three venues across two countries.

The third match of the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup, set to be played between defending champions India and USA, is scheduled to commence from 7:00 PM IST onwards.

Incidentally, the opening match of the 2026 T20 World Cup will be staged at the SSC Cricket Ground in Colombo, a venue preferred by the Pakistan team over their reluctance in travelling to India. The ‘Men in Green’ will be taking on Netherlands in the game, with action slated to commence from 11:00 AM IST.

The second match of the opening day will be a Group C fixture to be played between West Indies and Scotland at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens from 3:00 PM IST.

Schedule remains intact despite Bangladesh removal

The overall schedule of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 remains intact despite the recent upheaval caused by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the Bangladesh government. Refusing to travel to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup citing sudden “security concerns”, the Bangladesh team was recently excluded from the tournament’s roaster by the ICC.

With ICC refusing to relocate Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka, the apex body simply replaced the Asian team with Scotland on the basis of ICC rankings relevance. The only adjustment now sees Scotland slotting into Bangladesh’s allotted fixtures without any further changes to the match calendar.

India to start out as defending champions

As many as 20 teams are taking part in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. All teams will compete in the opening Group stage round between February 7 and February 20. The teams are distributed among four different groups, with arch-rivals India and Pakistan paired in Group A.

A majority of the 20 competing teams will also play a couple of warm-up matches in the lead-up to the showpiece event.

The top two sides from each group will advance into the Super 8 stage of the tournament, before the semifinals and the final.

Team India will start out as defending champions, having won the previous edition back in mid-2024 in the West Indies and the USA.