In this image received on Nov. 25, 2025, ICC Chairman Jay Shah, BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia, ICC brand ambassador for Men's T20 World Cup 2026 Rohit Sharma, India's T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav, Indian women's captain Harmanpreet Kaur and others during the unveiling ceremony of the schedule of the World Cup, in Mumbai. (Handout via PTI Photo)India’s 2024 T20 World Cup-winning captain Rohit Sharma was named the brand ambassador of the 2026 T20 Men’s World Cup on Wednesday when the schedule for the ICC event was announced in Mumbai. Sharma, who retired from T20Is after India lifted their second-ever ICC crown in the event, said that he’s getting used to staying at home watching cricket, over playing.
“To sit on the other side and watch, having played in each of these (T20) World Cups so far, will feel different. I am getting used to sitting at home and watching,” Rohit said.
Sharma, who has retired from Tests and T20Is but continues to be a part of the ODI setup, said that he was honoured that the ICC chose him as the ambassador, even though he still is a part of the Indian ODI team.
“I was told by someone that while playing no one has been announced as an ambassador so it’s a great privilege and honour for me,” Rohit said during the schedule for the tournament that will jointly be hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.
Rohit also hoped that India would be able to successfully defend their trophy.
“Hopefully we can again create the magic which we created last year with a different bunch of boys. It’s a huge task to win an ICC event and in my 18 years I have been fortunate to win two recently. To finally come out and win those trophies feels good,” Rohit said.
India was put in a group with Pakistan, USA, Netherlands and Namibia, with the opener taking place against the Americans at the Wankhede. Sharma said that going by the global popularity of the game, India needed to keep their foot on the pedal through the tournament.
“You cannot go into any tournament thinking… you cannot take the foot off the pedal and have to be (on top of your game) from ball one. All these teams are quite competitive and every team comes very well prepared. I am quite amazed to see Italy also there,” Rohit said.
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