ICC T20 World Cup 2026 venues announced; Ahmedabad to host final
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The BCCI has finally shortlisted a pool of 5 cities across India where matches from the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will be played. The World Cup is to be hosted by India alongside their neighbours, Sri Lanka, so a few of the matches will be hosted at venues across Sri Lanka as well.
The ICC T20 World Cup will be played in 2026, with India and Sri Lanka co-hosting the ICC tournament. India are the defending champions of the ICC T20 World Cup after having won it under Rohit Sharma's leadership in 2024.
India will play without their two veteran cricketers, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, in the format since they announced their retirement following the previous World Cup win. The tournament will comprise 20 participating teams in the competition.
BCCI shortlists venues for hosting the ICC T20 World Cup 2026
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has picked a list of five venues across the Indian subcontinent as the major venues for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026. As per reports from The Indian Express, the top BCCI officials in a meeting decided that the World Cup will be played over fewer cities, with the same venue getting a minimum of 5-6 matches.
It was also learned that they have clearly stated that the venues that held the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 in India, which include Guwahati, Visakhapatnam, Indore, and Navi Mumbai, will not be used any further for the T20 World Cup.
The BCCI has hence picked Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, Eden Gardens, Kolkata, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, and the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai as the venues for the World Cup.
ICC had issued a verdict on the Semi-final venues
The tournament will be co-hosted by both India and Sri Lanka, which implies that the knockouts should be played in both countries, but that has not been the plan. The BCCI, as a superior board and with their teams having higher chances of reaching the semi-finals, are likely to host the two semi-finals.
The ICC has made it clear to the BCCI that if Sri Lanka qualify for the knockouts of the competition, then their match will be hosted in their nation itself and not on Indian soil. The BCCI too seemed to have accepted the proposal.
While the other semi-final continues to be held in India, most likely any one of the five above-mentioned venues would surely be hosting the ICC knockout game.
Sri Lanka to host games over three different venues
The Lankan Cricket Board would be hosting the matches in the ICC T20 World Cup over three venues; however, the venues are yet to be revealed. Likely, the grounds in Pallekele, Colombo, and Dambulla might be cited as the three venues most ideal for T20 cricket.
Much like the ICC Women's World Cup, Sri Lanka will host all of their matches on their soil and will host all of Pakistan's matches as well. According to a deal between the PCB and BCCI before the Champions Trophy in 2025, they won't travel or play a game in their respective nations.
Even if Pakistan reach the semi-finals or finals of the competition, then it would be shifted to Sri Lanka instead of India, much like the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final was held in Dubai, despite Pakistan being the official hosts.
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ICC T20 World Cup 2026 India National Cricket Team Sri Lanka National Cricket Teams BCCI Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) ICC
