Which Indian legend has been named as Brand Ambassador for T20 World Cup 2026?

ICC Chairman Jay Shah announced Indian legend Rohit Sharma as the Brand Ambassador for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026. The groups and fixtures for the tournament were revealed on Tuesday, November 25, in an event in Mumbai where Rohit was also present.

India are the defending champions. Former captain Rohit Sharma led them to victory at the 2024 edition, where they beat South Africa in the final. Therefore, it was only fitting for him to be the tournament ambassador with the marquee event set to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. Notably, Rohit was part of all the T20 World Cup editions so far from 2007 to 2024.

"It’s my honour to announce that @ImRo45 is the tournament ambassador for the upcoming @T20WorldCup in India & Sri Lanka. There can be no better representative for the event than the winning captain of the 2024 T20 World Cup, and a player who has been in all nine editions so far," Jay Shah wrote on X.

Jay Shah

@JayShah

It’s my honour to announce that @ImRo45 is the tournament ambassador for the upcoming @T20WorldCup in India & Sri Lanka.There can be no better representative for the event than the winning captain of the 2024 T20 World Cup, and a player who has been in all nine editions so far.

Rohit retired from T20Is after guiding the team to the 2024 T20 World Cup trophy. He scored 4231 runs from 159 T20Is at an average of 32.05 and a strike-rate of 140.89 with five hundreds and 32 half-centuries.

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Former India skipper on watching the 2026 T20 World Cup from home

For the first time since its inaugural edition, Rohit Sharma will not be part of the T20 World Cup. Having retired from the format, the former skipper admitted that it is taking him time to not be on the field and watch the matches from home.

"Now to sit on the other side and watch the T20 World Cup, having played all the World Cups before, will feel different. I am still getting used to sitting at home and watching it on TV. It's different, but I'm enjoying it," he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

He also expressed gratitude for being named ambassador for the upcoming tournament. Rohit also hoped that India would defend the title in the 2026 edition.

"It is a great honour to be here. Thank you to Jay Shah. I was just telling someone that while playing, nobody has been announced as the ICC ambassador. So it is a great privilege for me. Hopefully, we can create that magic again with a different bunch of players this time around."

The Men in Blue have been placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, the USA, the Netherlands, and Namibia. They will begin their campaign on Saturday, February 7, against the USA in Mumbai.