The ICC T20 World Cup is scheduled to begin on February 7, with three matches to be played on day one

The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 is less than a month away. However, despite India being a cricket-crazy nation, we do not hear enough chatter around us about the World Cup. It is tough to believe that the World Cup is near, but the buzz is missing from the air. Indeed, professional cricket analysts or former players are busy with analysis and other aspects of the tournament for various channels, on social media platforms, and so on. However, from a fan point of view, the craze seems to be off.

Why is it the case? Here are some of the reasons we think are responsible for such lukewarm energy.

Lack of social media activity

To start off with, we went through the official ICC page on Facebook, and there are little to no posts on the upcoming tournament. Be it player cards, comparisons, or other forms of multimedia elements, the ICC, BCCI and the Indian Cricket Team accounts aren’t boosting the tournament as it should. Given how social media is used these days to generate interest and spread the word, the lack of social media chatter around the tournament is one of the reasons behind the lack of ambience.

No promo song

One of the biggest entertainment aspects of the World Cup, be it cricket or football, is the official anthem of the tournament, coupled with a music video. On most occasions, the song is composed and sung by renowned singers and composers. However, with less than one month to go, the official anthem of the T20 World Cup has not been released. The song is one of the ways through which the tournament gets marketed because nowadays songs are used in reels.

Little advertisement

There’s hardly any banner spotted on the streets of India for the T20 World Cup, even though India is co-hosting along with Sri Lanka. There isn’t much on ICC’s media partner JioStar OTT platform or commercials on televisions. On social media platforms, we do not see promotions by influencers and celebrities.

Late match schedule & squad

At the time of drafting this article (Jan. 9), several teams are yet to announce their squads, including PAK, USA, Netherlands, Ireland, West Indies, Italy, Canada, and UAE. The schedule for all the matches was only confirmed a day ago or so, and even ticket sales have only been for phase 1.

Too many ICC tournaments

Recently, Robin Uthappa highlighted how too many ICC tournaments with very little gap are taking away fans’ interest from the tournaments. Speaking to PTI, Uthappa had said, “I think the novelty of the ICC Championships must be there. I think it's an integral part, not just for the players but also for the fans and for the viewers. It has to mean something. There has to be a little bit of a gap. We can't have or shouldn't have an ICC championship every year.”

A few days ago, even Ravichandran Ashwin had made a similar statement for the ODI World Cup, stating, “If you really want to make ODI cricket relevant, then just play these T20 leagues and play the ODI World Cup once in four years. That way, when people turn up for events, there will be a sense of expectation. I feel it is going towards a slow d*ath.”

From where we are standing today, it will be interesting to see if the World Cup receives the reception, it usually does from the Indian cricket fans or if stadiums end up with too many vacant seats.