Asia Cup 2026 Fixtures, Tickets and Broadcast Guide

Asia Cup 2026 is a T20 tournament played across a 17-day window in September, and for fans across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the diaspora, the practical questions arrive long before the cricket does. When does the India-Pakistan group game start in IST? Which broadcaster owns the rights in your country? When do tickets actually go on sale, and at what tier? This is the working planner — fixtures, sessions, broadcast partners and ticket windows organised the way a fan's calendar actually wants them.

Tournament Frame at a Glance

Eight teams, T20 format, group stage into Super Four into final. The full overview lives in the Asia Cup 2026 format and venues guide; this page assumes you already know that part and want the day-by-day detail. Hosting status sits with the ACC, and the political layer around fixturing is unpacked in the India-Pakistan neutral-venue politics piece.

Day-by-Day Fixture Grid

Date (IST)	Match	Venue (indicative)	First Ball IST	Local Time
Sep 5 (Sat)	Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan	Dubai	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 6 (Sun)	India vs UAE	Dubai	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 7 (Mon)	Pakistan vs Oman	Abu Dhabi	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 8 (Tue)	Bangladesh vs Hong Kong	Sharjah	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 10 (Thu)	India vs Pakistan	Dubai	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 11 (Fri)	Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh	Sharjah	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 12 (Sat)	Afghanistan vs Hong Kong	Abu Dhabi	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 13 (Sun)	Pakistan vs UAE	Dubai	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 15 (Tue)	Super Four 1	Dubai	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 16 (Wed)	Super Four 2	Abu Dhabi	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 18 (Fri)	Super Four 3 (Ind vs Pak)	Dubai	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 19 (Sat)	Super Four 4	Sharjah	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 20 (Sun)	Super Four 5	Abu Dhabi	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 21 (Mon)	Super Four 6	Dubai	7:30 PM	6:00 PM
Sep 22 (Tue)	Final	Dubai	7:30 PM	6:00 PM

All times are indicative pending ACC final confirmation; venue allocation may shift depending on the Pakistan participation question. Innings break is 20 minutes in T20, so the second innings will typically start around 9:25 PM IST.

Broadcast Rights — Country by Country

Region	TV	OTT / Streaming
India	Sony Sports Network	JioHotstar (subscription)
Pakistan	PTV Sports, Ten Sports	Tamasha (free), Tapmad
Bangladesh	T Sports, GTV	Rabbithole (free)
Sri Lanka	TV1, ThePapare	ThePapare app
UAE / Middle East	CricLife / Etisalat	Starzplay
UK	Sky Sports Cricket	Sky Go, NOW (day pass)
USA / Canada	Willow TV	Willow.tv, ESPN+ (subset)
Australia	Fox Cricket	Kayo Sports
South Africa	SuperSport	DStv Stream

OTT subscription pricing varies — JioHotstar mobile-only plans typically run cheapest in India, Sky's NOW day-pass at around £14.99 is the way to dip in for one match in the UK, and Willow.tv runs an event pass for non-cable USA viewers.

Ticket Window — When and How

Tickets for Asia Cup 2026 are released in three waves:

Wave	Window	Audience	Pricing Tier (AED)
Member ballot	Mid-July (1 week)	ECB members, sponsors	n/a (allocation)
Public phase 1	Late July	India-Pakistan + Final	350 - 1500
Public phase 2	Mid-August	All remaining fixtures	95 - 600

The India-Pakistan group game and the Final are the two fixtures that will sell out within the first hour of the public window. ACC's official ticketing partner — typically Platinumlist or a similar UAE-licensed reseller — holds the live inventory; secondary marketplaces emerge within 48 hours of public phase 1 and pricing on those routinely runs 3-5x face for the marquee fixtures.

Stadium Logistics — Three Venues at a Glance

Dubai International Stadium has the largest capacity at around 25,000 and gets the marquee fixtures by default. Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium is around 20,000 and offers the calmest crowd-flow experience because of its compound layout. Sharjah Cricket Stadium is the smallest of the three at around 16,000 and is the most atmospheric — it's also the most challenging to reach by public transport from Dubai, so factor a 90-minute one-way journey by taxi.

For Indian travellers, UAE visa-on-arrival is the simplest route, and the September weather still sits at 36-39°C in daylight — fixtures starting at 6 PM local mean the cricket itself happens in the cooler 27-32°C window, but the build-up at the gates is hot.

How To Use This Guide

Bookmark the day-by-day grid for IST kickoff times, set a calendar reminder for the public phase 1 ticket window if you want the India-Pakistan or Final fixture, and pick the OTT route that matches your country's row in the broadcast table. The fixturing itself may shift slightly between now and the ACC's formal release, but the broadcast and ticket frames are stable enough that planning around them now is safe.