The excitement has been high for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026, which will return to be hosted in India after 10 years since the 2016 edition, when the hosts finished in the semifinal losing to West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. This time, the Suryakumar Yadav-led side is the defending champions.

Tickets for the T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka will go on sale at 18:45 IST on December 11, with the event stated to begin on February 07 in India and Sri Lanka. The prices for phase one of the ticket sales start at INR 100 at some venues in India and LRK 1000, as the ICC released in a statement.

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“Phase I of ticket sales is an important milestone in our journey towards delivering the most accessible and global ICC event ever staged. Our vision for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 is clear: every fan, regardless of background, geography, or financial means, should have the chance to access an in-stadia experience of world-class marquee cricket.” The ICC CEO, Sanjog Gupta, expressed.

Know ticket price of T20 World Cup 2026

The event will be contested by 20 teams and comprises 55 matches. The games begin at 11 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon, and 7 in the evening. The format remains the same as the 2024 edition, with the teams being divided into five groups of four each.

“With tickets starting from just INR 100 and LKR1000, we are putting affordability at the centre of our strategy. This is about opening the gates wide and inviting millions to be part of a global celebration of cricket, not as spectators from afar, but as active participants in the energy, emotion, and magic that only a stadium can offer.” Gupta highlighted.

Each team will play the other three teams in the Super Eight Group, with the top two from each group making it to the semifinals. The semifinals will take place in Kolkata or Colombo, if Pakistan qualifies, on March 04, and in Mumbai on March 05. The final will be held on March 08 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad or in Colombo.

Just a flick of the wrists and the ball flew into the gallery of six. Suryakumar Yadav, Team India T20I captain, hit the first six of the India vs South Africa 1st T20I (IND vs SA 1st T20I) at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Against experienced South African pacer Kagiso Rabada, Yadav launched the ball for a huge six on the leg side. 

The pitch of the Barabati Stadium is not a usual T20 surface where batters can come and score runs swiftly. South Africa skipper Aiden Markram elected to bowl first after winning the toss, as there is a layer of grass on the track. Though, underneath the green surface, there are some cracks on the deck, which make it hard to predict. 

Suryakumar Yadav said that he would not mind batting first, as the pitch is not predictable at first glance. When the match began, South African pacers quickly got their momentum by removing Shubman Gill. It was his first match after the neck injury he received during the India vs. South Africa 1st Test. Abhishek Sharma, who is known for his explosive batting, also looked cold in front of the opposing pacers. 

Read More: Why is Sanju Samson not playing today in IND vs SA 1st T20I?

Suryakumar Yadav hit the first 6 of India vs South Africa 1st T20I match

In pure #Suryakumar style! 😎

Shuffles across and slaps it into the stands. 👏#INDvSA, 1st T20I, LIVE NOW 👉 https://t.co/tqu4j7Svcm pic.twitter.com/d2j2ml0hYe

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 9, 2025

After the dismissal of Gill, Yadav walked into the pitch with a lot of burden on his shoulders. India was 5 for 1 when the skipper joined Abhishek Sharma in the middle. The seasoned batter started batting in a watchful manner. He showed no hurry against Marco Jansen. But started to accelerate against Rabada. 

On the second ball of the 3rd over, Yadav smashed Rabada for a four on the leg side and a six on the following delivery. The boundary and the over-boundary were both the results of the roll of the wrists. After conceding the boundary, Rabada kept a length ball on the pads. Yadav read the ball early, adjusted himself for a lifted flick, and delivered. Over deep mid-wicket it was the first biggie of the match. But in the next ball, Suryakumar lost his wicket and had to go back to the dugout after scoring only 12 runs against 11 deliveries. 

Ahead of the opening T20I of the five-match series against South Africa at home, Indian players and their head coach, Gautam Gambhir, visited the Shri Jaganath Temple in Odisha’s Puri on Tuesday to seek blessings. The match is scheduled to take place on December 09 at the Barabati Cricket Stadium in Cuttack as the Blue Brigade looks to start their last-minute preparation for the T20 World Cup 2026.

Captain Suryakumar Yadav, accompanied by his wife Devisha Shetty and batter Tilak Varma, was among the players who took part in the visit to the temple. The squad entered the premises amidst the heavy security as the fans gathered in large numbers for the occasion.

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India didn’t do well in the two-match Test series to start the trip of the South Africa side. They lost the opening clash by 30 runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata before facing another massive defeat by 408 runs in the second red-ball clash at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The Blue Brigade faced their second home whitewash in Tests in the last three attempts.

Watch: Indian players and coach take blessings from Shri Jaganath Temple

India have welcomed their two superstars, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya, back into the squad. The former was out of the Test and ODI series due to a neck injury, while Pandya returns to action for the first time since the group-stage clash against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2025.

Watch the video here: 

VIDEO | Odisha: Team India members visit Jagannath Temple in Puri for darshan ahead of T20 match with South Africa in Cuttack today.#OdishaNews #INDvsSAT20

(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/P6GaHUS5py

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 9, 2025

“The preparation for the T20 World Cup started after the T20 World Cup of 2024 was over. Because in any big tournament, you cannot think that the tournament is here and the preparation has started. When we give exams in school, it is not like we try to study everything in the last four days. We study for a year or two.” Sky expressed in the pre-match press conference.

The eyes will also be on Suryakumar Yadav, who has struggled with the bat in recent times. The captaincy has been a factor for him as he will aim to be in his beast mode ahead of the next year’s home T20 World Cup.

India (IND) will face South Africa (SA) in the 1st T20I of the series at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday, December 9. This match is a repeat of the T20 World Cup 2024 final, adding extra excitement to the contest. The all-format tour is in its final stage—South Africa won the Test series, while India claimed the ODI series.

India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, are in excellent form. They recently won the Asia Cup 2025 and also defeated Australia in their own backyard. With the 2026 T20 World Cup not far away, India will aim at carrying on their momentum and make a winning start to the T20I series in Cuttack.

South Africa, however, have been struggling in T20Is lately. They lost their recent series 1–2 against Pakistan and even suffered a shock defeat to Namibia in a one-off match. They also drew a series against England. The Proteas will be desperate to find some rhythm and bounce back in this important series.

IND vs SA: Head-to-Head Record in T20Is

• Matches Played: 31
  
• India Won: 18
  
• South Africa Won: 12
  
• Tied / No Result: 1

IND vs SA: Pitch Report

The Barabati Stadium has hosted three T20Is so far, and South Africa have won both matches they played here. Teams chasing have won two out of three games here, and bowling first could be a smart choice. The pitch does offer help to both pacers and spinners, but bowlers with good variations usually do the work. A score around 160 can be competitive on this ground because dew may not allow the ball to grip much.

See Also: IND vs SA 1st T20I: Suryakumar Yadav confirms Gill and Abhishek as openers, Samson’s role uncertain

IND vs SA: Predicted Playing XIs

India (IND):

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

South Africa (SA):

Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi

The T20I captain of the Indian cricket team, Suryakumar Yadav, has started their preparation for the upcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa, which begins on December 09 with the opening clash set to be taken place at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. However, their luck hasn’t been the same with tosses. 

India’s stand-in captain in the three-match ODI series, KL Rahul, ended their nightmare of losing tosses for more than two years when he found the right side of the coin during the third ODI at the Visakhapatnam, which was their first toss win since the 2023 ODI World Cup semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

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“I also do it with my left hand.”- Sky expressed in a hilarious press conference as he would aim to use the left-hand for flicking coin, which was used by Rahul for the third ODI in Vizag. The dew will be massive in Cuttack for the second innings, and that’s where it will be an acid Test.

Suryakumar Yadav to use KL Rahul’s new trick for toss in IND vs SA 1st T20I

The T20I series will see both Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill making a comeback in the national side. The former was out of action since the Asia Cup 2025 while Gill picked up the neck injury during the opening Test against the Rainbow Nation at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

I think what you saw in the Asia Cup also, when he was bowling the new ball, he opened a lot of options, lot of combinations for us with respect to playing XI. That's what he brings to the table. His experience, the way he has done really well in all the matches, all good games also, all bigger games in ICC events.” Sky shed light.

“The preparation for the T20 World Cup started after the T20 World Cup of 2024 was over. Because in any big tournament, you cannot think that the tournament is here and the preparation has started. When we give exams in school, it is not like we try to study everything in the last four days. We study for a year or two.” Suryakumar Yadav concluded.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Mumbai Indians (MI) fans can take a breath of relief as their respective key players have performed well in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT 2025) tournament. With the confident batting from Ajinkya Rahane and Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai got an easy win over Railways on November 26 at Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground. 

Mumbai went to play the match against Railways with their full force. Batters of the Railways cricket team tried their best to score a good amount of runs to challenge the star-studded opposition. Ashutosh Sharma played for Railways and played an attacking 30-ball, 61-run innings. His innings was laced with seven boundaries and three over-boundaries. Mohammad Saif was another Railways batter who performed strongly against Mumbai's bowling attack, which contained well-known names like Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, and Shivam Dube. Thakur was absolutely on fire with the new ball in hand. 

Mumbai got two wickets early in the match, but Railways endured the early blows and registered 158 for India in 20 overs mostly because of Sharma's 61 and Saif's 48-run innings. 

Read More: List of India's biggest loss in Test Cricket by run margin

Confident batting by Ajinkya Rahane and Suryakumar Yadav ahead of IPL 2025

The 159-run target was not hard enough for Mumbai to chase down. With limited quality bowling options, Railways could barely set any hurdle in front of Mumbai's strong batting line-up. Ayush Mhatre's early departure was soon covered up nicely by Rahane and then Yadav. Ajinkya Rahane, who will play IPL 2026 for Kolkata Knight Riders, scored 62 off 33. Interestingly, he hit five over boundaries and only one boundary to make the knock effective. Yadav joined him in the middle with some extra fireworks. The Mumbai Indians star got 47 off 30 with five 4s and two 6s. MI fans are definitely happy to see their star middle-order batter gaining momentum ahead of IPL 2026, as his recent individual performances with Team India were below average. 

In 15.5 overs, Mumbai defeated Railways in the SMAT 2025 today with 7 wickets in hand. Rahane was named Man of the Match for his batting performance. 

The complete schedule for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has finally been revealed officially on Tuesday (November 25) evening in Mumbai. During that event, the Indian T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav revealed the ideal opponent for Team India in the Final of the forthcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: India are co-hosts and defending champions

India and Sri Lanka will jointly host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 tournament between February 7 and March 8, 2026. A total of 20 teams will participate in the upcoming T20 World Cup, where India will also participate in the tournament as the defending champions, as the Men in Blues won their second T20 World Cup title in the 2024 edition under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. 

Without any doubt, India are one of the favourites for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, as the Men in Blues can be the first hosts to win the title as well as the first defending champions too. India are in Group A in the upcoming T20 World Cup along with Pakistan, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the USA. 

While the top two teams from each group will advance to the Super 8 stage, which will have two different groups with four teams each, the top two teams from each group of the Super 8 stage will qualify for the Semi-finals. As usual, the Semi-finals winners will face off in the Final for the last battle to lift the trophy. 

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026: India’s full schedule revealed

Suryakumar Yadav revealed India's ideal opponent for Final of ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026

India, West Indies, and England are the teams with two ICC Men’s T20 World Cup trophies. When the Indian T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav was asked about the ideal opponent to face in the Final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, SKY quickly answered that they want to beat Australia in the Final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where the Men in Blues’ dream was dashed during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 Final against the same opponents. 

Mumbai have announced the T20 squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26, where the Mumbai Indians star, who is also a star of the Indian national cricket team, has been included. 

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 will begin on November 26, when Mumbai will also begin their journey with the match against Railways. Shardul Thakur will lead the two-time Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy winners in the forthcoming edition. 

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Mumbai named Suryakumar Yadav in SMAT 2025-26 squad

Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian T20I captain and Mumbai Indians star, has also been named in the T20I squad. Before the five-match home T20I series against South Africa, which will begin on December 9, SKY will get some important match practice in the upcoming SMAT season.   

Suryakumar Yadav, the second-leading run-scorer in the IPL 2025, who set an example of consistent T20 batting during the IPL 2025, is struggling to perform consistently in the recent T20I matches. After a forgettable performance in the Asia Cup T20 2025, where the Indian T20I captain only scored 72 runs in six innings with an average of 18.00, including a highest score of 47 not out, Suryakumar Yadav finished the Australia T20I tour as the third leading run-scorer for India, but his dominant consistency is still missing. In the Australia tour, the Indian T20I skipper scored 39 not out, 1, 24, and 20 runs, respectively.  

Also, Ajinkya Rahane, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Musheer Khan, Tanush Kotian, wicketkeeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi, etc, are significant names in the Mumbai squad for the upcoming SMAT 2025-26. 

Mumbai squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 (SMAT 2025-26) 

Shardul Thakur (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Ayush Mhatre, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Sairaj Patil, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Atharva Ankolekar, Tanush Kotian, Shams Mulani, Tushar Deshpande, Irfan Umair, and Hardik Tamore (wk)

The T20I captain of the Indian cricket team, Suryakumar Yadav, has shared a video of his travel vlog when the national side made their trip to Australia for the five-match series down under. He displayed the scenes when he was joined by the two Mumbai Indians players- Tilak Varma and Jasprit Bumrah, at the airport.

There was a funny moment in the video where the Indian captain was wondering how to flip the camera to selfie before Varma joined in the process, but he couldn’t help him. Sky had a chat with Bumrah on the plane, besides showing the funny reactions of Jitesh Sharma and Rinku Singh while walking in the park.

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There was another moment in the video where Suryakumar Yadav was seen having a chat with the head coach- Gautam Gambhir- and the bowling coach of the Blue Brigade, Morne Morkel, before he put that portion of celebrating Tilak’s birthday during the fifth washed-out T20I at the Gabba.

Watch: Suryakumar Yadav shares glimpses of his travel vlog during recent Australia trip

Suryakumar Yadav has earned immense success with the bat in the shortest format of the game. The right-handed batter has clubbed 2754 runs in 89 innings of the T20Is at an average of 36.72 and a strike rate of 164.71 with the help of 21 half-centuries and four centuries at the best score of 117 runs. In the T20s, he has bagged 8776 overall runs at a strike rate of 152.83.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY) (@surya_14kumar)

Sky didn’t enjoy a great time with the bat in the series, with the help of 84 runs in four innings, with the best score of unbeaten 39 runs that he recorded during the opening game at the Manuka Oval in Canberra before the rain came to spoil the park for the visiting side.

After a wet result in the opening clash, Australia took the lead with a victory in the second Melbourne game. But, India’s successive clinical performances during the second and third games at Hobart and Carrara were enough to seal the series as the rain had the last laugh in Brisbane.

During the third T20I against South Africa two years ago, India’s T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, was seen to show anger against their left-arm pacer, Arshdeep Singh, in the team bus as the videos went viral on social media platforms.

Now, a current video has gone viral on socials, where Suryakumar was asked about the reason, to which he revealed how he suggested Arshdeep angrily to retain the same character and behavior even irrespective of whether he picked up two wickets or leaked 40-50 runs in his four-over spell for India. 

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“I said to him in the team bus, and I was a little grumpy, and I said, no matter whether you leak 40 runs or 50, you should show the same character. It’s not like you would be happy only if you pick two or three wickets for 18 runs in four overs. Always display the same character, and I advised him that his bowling career would change completely with comfort.” Sky expressed during the interaction.

Watch: Suryakumar Yadav explains why he was angry with Arshdeep Singh in 2023

Arshdeep has picked up a total of 105 wickets to be India’s leading wicket-taker in 67 innings at an average of 18.59 and a strike rate of 13.3 with the help of two four-wicket hauls at the best figures of 4/9 in an inning.

Suryakumar Yadav revealed why he was angry at Arshdeep Singh.👀

But Gautam Gambhir keeps dropping Arshdeep in every match - so why doesn’t he do the same with Harshit Rana?🤷🏻 pic.twitter.com/7PPbDswm3B

— Mention Cricket (@MentionCricket) November 10, 2025

“Later, Arshdeep started the tag that one shouldn’t stop enjoying. Now, you can see him. No matter what happens, he is always chill on the ground. If we go with two fast bowlers in the playing eleven, then Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh are confirmed to participate. But in Dubai during the Asia Cup 2025, the situation was where only Bumrah could play, but Arshdeep didn’t have any issue with it.” Sky addressed the video.

“He didn’t come and ask why he didn’t play, or why he should have played. So, Arshdeep is now a changed man. He knows what the team requires at what position. And whenever the opportunity comes, he will deliver with the ball. Once the Sri Lanka game came, he bowled the last over and the super over to win us the game.” India’s T20I captain concluded.