As a part of huge news, International Cricket Council (ICC) president Jay Shah, has named modern-day batting protagonist and the iconic captain, Rohit Sharma, as the ambassador of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
This was consecrated by the ICC Chairman Jay Shah at a unique celebration on Tuesday 25th November in which many officials from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) were present.
I take delight in declaring Rohit Sharma as the tournament ambassador – Jay Shah
After the announcement at the event, Jay Shah went to X and said that there could not be a better face of the event than the T20 World Cup 2024-winning captain.
“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 @T20WorldCup, and a player who has been in all nine editions so far,” the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman, Jay Shah, wrote on X.
I take delight in declaring @ImRo45 as 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 Sharma has expressed his deepest gratitude to the ICC and Jay Shah by saying, “From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank the ICC and Jay Shah. It is a great honor to be an ambassador for an ICC event. I was just informed that no active player has ever been appointed an ICC ambassador, so this is a big privilege for me and a great honor too. I am very thankful and very grateful.”
The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 is scheduled from February 7 to March 8, 2026, and will take place in India and Sri Lanka at eight different venues.
The legendary Rohit Sharma, who is only playing ODIs internationally at present, is the sole Indian player to have received the T20 World Cup trophy for both his playing and captaincy roles.
Rohit Sharma who is the ambassador for the event expressed his happiness about being the first active cricketer appointed as an ICC brand ambassador and said the following.
“Good evening, everyone. I’d like to thank the ICC and Jay Shah from the bottom of my heart. It’s a tremendous privilege to be an ambassador for an ICC event. I was just informed that no active player has ever been named as an ICC ambassador, so I consider this a big privilege and a great honor as well. I am very thankful and very grateful,” said Rohit.
Rohit Sharma stated that he was hoping for the Indian team to bring back the same magic in 2024 and thereby become the T20 World Cup winners at the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. He said:
“Hopefully, we can create the same magic we created last year, though this time it will be with a different group of boys. Winning an ICC trophy is a huge challenge. I’ve seen that personally over the years—I’ve completed 18 years in international cricket. I’ve been lucky to win two recently and two early in my career.”
“However, there was a lengthy period in between during which we couldn’t secure an ICC trophy, and I am fully aware of the desperation felt by us players, as a team, and as a management to lay our hands on one. Ultimately, the triumph of pouring out those trophies was tremendous. The joy it has spread throughout the nation along with our sport is visible.”
“Now it would be completely another experience to watch the T20 World Cup from the other side—the one who has attended all the World Cups and is still not present there. But I am already getting accustomed to being home and watching a few matches. It’s not the same, but I am having a good time—be it watching from home or in the stadium when the ladies are winning. I will come to that soon,” Rohit said.”