The high-voltage meeting set for the R Premadasa Stadium, will be the teams' first encounter since their three fiery clashes at the 2025 Asia Cup.
India and Pakistan have been placed in the same group alongside USA, Netherlands and Namibia. India open their campaign against USA in Mumbai on February 7, followed by matches against Namibia in Delhi on February 12 and Pakistan on February 15, before rounding off the group stage against the Netherlands in Ahmedabad on February 18. The group phase will feature three games per day.
The tournament runs from February 7 to March 8 and will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
Pakistan are scheduled to play all their group fixtures in Colombo or Kandy. The format mirrors the 2024 edition: 20 teams divided into four groups of five, with the top two from each progressing to the Super Eight stage, followed by semi-finals and the final.
If India qualify for the Super Eights, their games will be held in Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata. If they reach the semi-finals, Mumbai will host their match.
Colombo or Kolkata will stage the other semi-final, depending on Sri Lanka’s and Pakistan’s progress. The final is slated for Ahmedabad, unless Pakistan qualify, in which case Colombo will host the title match.
Alongside hosts India and Sri Lanka, the participating teams include Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, USA, West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Oman and UAE.
