JioStar, the official broadcast and digital partner for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup India & Sri Lanka 2026, has unveiled its opening campaign film for the biennial tournament, marking a notable shift in how Indian cricket narratives are being framed.
For the first time, reigning ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup champions Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma take centre stage in rallying the country behind the men’s team. The role reversal reflects the growing stature of women’s cricket in India, with the nation’s world champions now backing the men’s side as they prepare to defend their title at home.
Women’s champions set the tone
The film opens with Jemimah Rodrigues recalling the night India realised its dream by lifting the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. She then signals a reset, as attention turns to the men’s team embarking on their own campaign.
Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma join in to reinforce the message that India has already brought one World Cup home — and will not let the other slip away. With a dramatic background score and stylised cinematography, the film visually connects two ICC World Cups across formats and genders, portraying one set of world champions cheering another.
Conceptualised as part of JioStar’s tournament build-up, the campaign stitches together defining moments from both the men’s and women’s national teams to generate momentum ahead of India’s title defence in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup — a milestone no host nation has achieved so far.
“Champions cheering champions”
Explaining the thinking behind the film, Siddharth Sharma, head – sports content, JioStar, said:
“As the Indian Men’s Cricket Team prepares to embark on a historic ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, striving to become the first ever back to back champions, it was apt for the reigning women’s World Champions to lead the charge in rallying support for the Men in Blue. This film was created to depict champions cheering champions — for Team India to repeat history on the biggest stage of all and to energise a billion fans who are longing to see Team India lift the trophy once again at home.”
India’s group-stage schedule
India will begin its ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign in Mumbai against the United States on February 7, followed by a match against Namibia on February 12. The much-anticipated clash against Pakistan is scheduled for February 15, before India wraps up its group fixtures against the Netherlands on February 18.
The tournament will open with Pakistan taking on the Netherlands, and fans will be able to watch the full competition live on JioHotstar and the Star Sports Network from February 7 to March 8.
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