Former India skipper Rohit Sharma brought the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 trophy to the field at the iconic Wankhede Stadium ahead of India’s campaign opener against the USA on Saturday (February 7).
Rohit, who is also the brand ambassador of the showpiece event, walked out with the silverware alongside ICC chairman Jay Shah. The moment was marked by fireworks and chants of “Rohit, Rohit” from the capacity crowd.
Rohit announced his retirement from T20Is after leading India to the title two years ago in the USA and West Indies. He recently played the ODI series against New Zealand at home. His next assignment will be the IPL 2026 season for Mumbai Indians.
Coming to India’s campaign opener, the hosts lost the toss and were invited to bat first. India skipper Suryakumar Yadav said his side would have preferred to bat anyway.
“We were looking to bat first. It looks good here. I played a lot of cricket here. There's a wind around as well, so I don't think there'll be a lot of dew later on. Of course there'll be a little bit of pressure. We can't run away from that fact, but then new tournament, we want to play the same way how we've been playing in the last one or two years and continue the same thing. It's live before the game starts and I'm sure when we start batting, it will be more wilder. We have Washington Sundar missing out, Sanju Samson missing out. Unfortunately Jasprit Bumrah is not well so Mohammed Siraj is playing,” Surya said while speaking at the toss.
India (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan(w), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakaravarthy
USA (Playing XI): Andries Gous(w), Saiteja Mukkamalla, Monank Patel(c), Milind Kumar, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Shubham Ranjane, Harmeet Singh, Mohammad Mohsin, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Saurabh Netravalkar
