LAHORE: Pakistan will face Ireland in their only warm-up match ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.
The tournament will be held on 4th February at the Sinhala Sports Club ground in Colombo.
The stadium will host Pakistan’s group-stage matches against Netherlands and USA on February 7 and 10 respectively.
Apart from Pakistan, India will face South Africa in their only warm-up match on February 4 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Meanwhile, India A is also scheduled to play warm-up matches against USA in Navi Mumbai and Namibia ahead of the crucial match in Bengaluru on February 6.
Top-ranked teams Australia, England and New Zealand have pulled out of practice matches.
Australia’s final task before the World Cup is a three-match T20I series against Pakistan, which starts on Thursday, while England are currently engaged in a white-ball series against Sri Lanka.
Under the ICC’s ‘Fusion Formula’, Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka as teams from Pakistan and India compete at neutral venues instead of touring each other for ICC events during scheduled periods.
If Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals and final, both the knockout matches will be played in Colombo. Otherwise, the semi-final and final will be held in Kolkata and Ahmedabad respectively.
The 2009 champions will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Netherlands on February 7 in Colombo, followed by matches against USA on February 10, arch-rivals India on February 15 and Namibia on February 18.
The Super Eight phase will be held from February 21 to March 1, with matches split between Colombo and Kolkata.
The first semi-final is scheduled to be played on March 3, the second semi-final on March 5 and the final on March 8 in either Ahmedabad or Colombo.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 – Warm-up matches
February 2
- Afghanistan vs Scotland – Bengaluru – 3 pm
- India A vs USA – Navi Mumbai – 5 pm
- Canada vs Italy – Chennai – 7 pm
February 3
- Sri Lanka A vs Oman – Colombo – 1 pm
- Netherlands vs Zimbabwe – Colombo – 3pm
- Nepal vs UAE – Chennai – 5 pm
February 4
- Namibia vs Scotland – Bengaluru – 1 pm
- Afghanistan vs West Indies – Bengaluru – 3 pm
- Ireland vs Pakistan – Colombo – 5pm
- India vs South Africa – Navi Mumbai – 7 pm
February 5
- Oman vs Zimbabwe – Colombo – 1 pm
- Canada vs Nepal – Chennai – 3 pm
- New Zealand vs USA – Navi Mumbai – 5 pm
February 6