International Cricket

T20 WC 2026 Group A Day-by-Day Fixtures Broadcast Decoded

Rohan Bhatia 19 May 2026 Updated 19 May 2026 ~5 min read ~970 words

T20 WC 2026 Group A fixtures day-by-day decoded

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Group A at the T20 WC 2026 contains hosts India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ireland and Nepal, with the five-team format running across nine days from February 14 through February 22. The group fixtures are spread across four Indian venues: M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot and the BRSABV Stadium in Lucknow. India's host status means three of their four group fixtures are at Chinnaswamy, with the marquee India vs Pakistan fixture moved to the larger Eden Gardens. This decode walks through each Group A fixture day-by-day, the broadcast windows, and the travel logistics that shape squad rotations.

Days 1-4, Group A opens

The group opens February 14 with India vs Ireland at M Chinnaswamy, the host's tournament-opener, kick-off at 19:30 IST. The second fixture is Pakistan vs Nepal at Eden Gardens on February 15, kick-off 19:00 IST. February 16 brings Bangladesh vs Ireland at Rajkot, kick-off 19:30 IST. February 17 is the marquee day: India vs Pakistan at Eden Gardens, kick-off 19:00 IST under floodlights, with the ICC's commercial team confirming that the Pakistan side's travel route is via Dubai-Kolkata charter, bypassing the political logistics of a direct India-Pakistan border crossing. February 18 is a tournament rest day, with Group A players moving between venues and the rest of the tournament covering Group B fixtures.

Days 5-8, mid-group fixtures

February 19 brings Bangladesh vs Nepal at the BRSABV Stadium in Lucknow, kick-off 14:00 IST in the day-game slot. February 20 sees India vs Bangladesh at M Chinnaswamy, kick-off 19:30 IST, framed as a key Powerplay match-up between Indian openers and the Bangladesh new-ball pair. February 21 has Pakistan vs Ireland at Eden Gardens, kick-off 19:00 IST. February 22 closes the Group A first-block fixtures with a double-header day: India vs Nepal at M Chinnaswamy in the 14:00 slot, and Bangladesh vs Pakistan at Eden Gardens in the 19:00 slot. The mid-group window is the most-watched stretch of the tournament, with India and Pakistan's seeding routes potentially decided across these four days.

Final group day and Super Eight qualification

The final Group A day, February 23, has two fixtures: Pakistan vs Bangladesh at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, kick-off 14:00 IST, and Nepal vs Ireland at the BRSABV Stadium in Lucknow, kick-off 19:00 IST. The day decides the four Group A Super Eight qualifiers. With five sides in the group and four progressing, the maths is tight: only one team is eliminated at the group stage. The most likely casualty is Nepal or Ireland, with Bangladesh and Pakistan competing for the seeding-route positions and India locked in as group winner. Net run-rate is expected to play a significant role across the final two days, with the Eden Gardens Bangladesh-Pakistan fixture potentially deciding the third-seeded route through the Super Eight.

Broadcast routing and venue rotation

Broadcast routing is the most-valuable T20 WC media-rights deal ever signed. Star Sports owns the India broadcast, JioHotstar handles the streaming, PTV Sports the Pakistan rights, T Sports and Maasranga in Bangladesh, RTE Sport in Ireland, Action Sports HD in Nepal, ICC.tv globally. The venue rotation is built around the ICC's pitch-rotation rules: each venue uses six pitches across the tournament, with two pitches reserved for the marquee fixtures and four for the rest. M Chinnaswamy's curatorial panel under Rajesh Bandekar has confirmed harder, faster decks for the India home fixtures. Eden Gardens uses its traditional slow, gripping surfaces for the India vs Pakistan fixture, the Saurashtra surface plays high-scoring, and the Lucknow square is the slowest of the four.

What it means

Group A is the marquee group of T20 WC 2026, with India hosting, Pakistan returning to Indian soil after eight years for a global tournament, and Bangladesh and Ireland both bringing fresh squads. The India vs Pakistan fixture at Eden Gardens on February 17 is the showpiece event of the tournament, the broadcast value of that single fixture is estimated at over USD 40 million. Watch the February 22 double-header and February 23 closing day, those two days decide the entire Super Eight seeding route, and with only one team eliminated, the qualification race goes down to the last over of the group stage.