The 2026 edition of the T20 Men’s World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, will begin on 7th February with the final slated to be held a month later on March 8. What this means is a very short recovery time for players as the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League is scheduled to begin from March 15 onwards.
It will mean an extremely hectic cricketing season in India with the World Cup and IPL happening back-to-back. IPL 2026 is also expected to be a longer season than usual – there are 84 league games slated for this year as compared to 74 in previous season. The date for the final has been chalked out as May 31.
In previous years, IPL teams had to play 14 games in the league stage but that will now be extended to 16. More details on this are awaited. A massive boost for the tournament is that the international players will be available for the entire season as the IPL has gotten an exclusive window in 2026.
The mini-auction for IPL 2026 will be held on Decemmber 16 in Abu Dhabi. All the franchises submitted their list of retentions on November 15 with several teams making shocking decisions regarding retention, release and trade. However, the trade window is still open till December 9 and will open once again after the mini-auction.
The Indian men’s side have a packed calendar with the white-ball series against South Africa followed by another white-ball series against New Zealand home. These two series will be the preparation platform for the T20I side as they gear up to defend the title on home turf.
