The International Cricket Council has appointed Rohit Sharma as the tournament ambassador for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka next year. Jay Shah declared this during an event.

Team India is the defending champion and, under Rohit Sharma’s leadership, won the 2024 World Cup in the United States and the West Indies. Like last year, 20 teams are participating in the T20 World Cup, divided into four groups. Teams will first play in the league stage and qualify for the Super 8. The top teams in the Super 8 will then advance to the semi-finals. Rohit Sharma has an excellent record in T20 Internationals. He has scored 4231 runs for India at an average of 32.01 and a strike rate of 140.89. Rohit retired from this format after the T20 World Cup 2024.

Rohit Sharma is one of the few players to have won two T20 World Cups. In 2007, India won its first T20 World Cup title, and Rohit was part of that team. India then won the next T20 World Cup in 2024.

On becoming the brand ambassador of the tournament, Rohit Sharma said, “It is a huge privilege for me. While playing (still being an active player), no one has been named as an ambassador in cricket. Hope to create magic like last year. The great task of winning an ICC trophy: I have personally experienced it. I have completed 18 years in cricket. Won two ICC trophies in the beginning of my career and then a few more in the last few years. But we remember how desperate we were as a team and management to win an ICC trophy in the intervening years.”

Talking about not being part of the Indian team in its title defence at the T20 World Cup next year, Rohit Sharma says, “It will feel a bit different. I have now got used to watching cricket sitting at home.”

ICC President Jay Shah said, “It is an honour for me to announce that Rohit Sharma is the tournament ambassador for the upcoming T20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka. There can be no better representative for this event than the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning captain and a player who has played in all nine editions so far.”