Bye bye red balls, hello white.
With Test cricket now over for another Aussie summer, the nation’s cricketing attention switches firmly to the twenty-over game, with the closing stages of the Big Bash League closely followed by next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.
Co-hosts India will start as defending champions—and strong favourites—having defeated South Africa in the 2024 final played at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
The opening match of 2026 tournament will see India take on the United States at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium which will be packed to the rafters on Saturday, 7 February.
AllSportsPeople outlines everything you need to know about Australia’s schedule and squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Australian match schedule for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026
Australia has been drawn in Group B and will face co-hosts Sri Lanka together with Ireland, Zimbabwe and Oman in the group stages of the tournament.
All four of Australia’s group matches will be played in Sri Lanka.
Date | Opponent | Venue | Time (AEDT) |
Wednesday, 11 February | Ireland | R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka | 8.30pm |
Friday, 13 February | Zimbabwe | R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka | 4.30pm |
Tuesday, 17 February | Sri Lanka | Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy, Sri Lanka | 12.30am |
Saturday, 21 February | Oman | Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy, Sri Lanka | 12.30am |
The ‘Super 8’ round begins on February 22 with the semi finals to be played on 5 and 6 March.
The 2026 T20 World Cup Final will be payed on Sunday 9 March with Ahmedabad in India set to be the host city, although Colombo has been listed as an alternative venue if required.
Australian Squad for ICC Men’ s T20 World Cup 2026
The Australian selectors announced a preliminary squad for the 2026 tournament in early January, however with several players under injury clouds and the BBL yet to be completed it could change prior to the team arriving in Sri Lanka.
- Mitchell Marsh (c)
- Xavier Bartlett
- Cooper Connolly
- Pat Cummins
- Tim David
- Cameron Green
- Nathan Ellis
- Josh Hazlewood
- Travis Head
- Josh Inglis (wk)
- Matthew Kuhnemann
- Glenn Maxwell
- Matthew Short
- Marcus Stoinis
- Adam Zampa