When Is The Next T20 World Cup? Hosts, Teams Qualified So Far And Other Details

Indian team finally ended its 11-year-old wait to win an ICC event by lifting the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy in Barbados last week. South Africa suffered heartbreak after their maiden march to the final ended with a seven-run loss in the final of the T20 showpiece at Kensington Oval.

The T20 retirement of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja marks the end of an era in Indian cricket but they got their timing spot on, giving the selectors and the incoming team management enough time to plan for the next T20 World Cup.

The Indian team, under a new skipper, will defend its title in the 2026 edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup at home. Here is all you need to know:

ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 will be held in India and Sri Lanka.

According to the ICC, the next T20 World Cup will again be a 55-match affair. The tournament will be played out in the same format, with four groups of five, before two Super Eights groups, semi-finals and a final to decide the next winner.

As hosts, Sri Lanka and India have already qualified for the 2026 T20 World Cup. The next 10 spots have been decided by Super Eight qualifiers at the 2024 edition, and ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings at the 30 June cut-off date.

Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies and the USA have qualified. Pakistan, New Zealand and Ireland have also booked their place at the next edition thanks to their T20I ranking.

The final eight teams for the 2026 edition will be decided by regional qualifiers, in a similar pathway to that of the 2024 qualifying. Africa, Asia and Europe have two qualification spots, with one spot for both the Americas and East-Asia Pacific regions.

Hardik Pandya, who has been rested from the Zimbabwe series, is expected to succeed Rohit as the T20I skipper and will be tracking the progress of the fringe players during his well-deserved break.

For the two opening slots that Rohit and Kohli have vacated, the options are plenty. As many as four openers are part of the India squad for the Zimbabwe tour -- Yashavsi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma.

In all likelihood, Gill and Gaikwad will open the batting in the first T20I in Harare on Saturday. Jadeja's retirement, on the other hand, elevates Axar Patel as the leading spin-bowling all-rounder in the Indian team.

Jadeja's retirement will also give injury-prone Washington Sundar more opportunities in the T20 setup.

(With PTI inputs)