India will begin their T20 World Cup title defence against the USA in Mumbai on February 7, the ICC announced on Tuesday.
The opening day will also feature two other matches — Pakistan taking on the Netherlands in Colombo (11am), while the West Indies meet Bangladesh at Eden Gardens (3 pm) — with India’s match scheduled to start at 7pm.
Pakistan will play all their matches in Colombo, including the semi-final and the final. India have been clubbed with the USA, Namibia, the Netherlands and Pakistan in Group A.
The India-Pakistan group match will be held in Colombo on February 15. The final will take place on March 8.
The matches will be held at five venues in India — Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chennai), Arun Jaitley Stadium (New Delhi), Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai) and Eden Gardens (Calcutta) — and three in Sri Lanka — R. Premadasa Stadium (Colombo), Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground (Colombo) and Pallekele International Cricket Stadium (Kandy).
Rohit Sharma, who led India to glory in the 2024 T20 World Cup, was named the tournament ambassador.
ICC chair Jay Shah, BCCI president Mithun Manhas and secretary Devajit Saikia were also present at the event in Mumbai.
The top four sides after the completion of the Super Eights qualify for the knockout stages of the event, with semi-finals to be held in Calcutta/Colombo and Mumbai, while the final will take place on March 8 in Ahmedabad/Colombo.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Eights, in which the teams will be split into two groups of four each. The top two teams from those groups will progress to the semi-finals.
Sri Lanka will get to play a home semi-final only if Pakistan qualify with them. If Sri Lanka qualify for the semi-final and Pakistan do not, then they will play their semi-final at Eden Gardens as the first semi-final.
In case, India are scheduled to face Sri Lanka in the semi-final, then the clash will be held in Mumbai as the second semi-final.
If India and Pakistan face each other in the semi-final, then the contest will be held in Colombo as the first semi-final. If both Pakistan and Sri Lanka fail to qualify, then the first semi-final will be held in Calcutta and the second in Mumbai.
Based on the ICC rankings on July 25, 2025, India (X1), England (Y1), Australia (X2), New Zealand (Y2), West Indies (X3), Pakistan (Y3), South Africa (X4) and Sri Lanka (Y4) have been seeded for the Super 8 stage.
If any of these eight teams do not qualify for the Super 8, then the teams that qualify from their respective groups will replace them.