Former South Africa all-rounder included as Italy announce squad for maiden T20 World Cup appearance

Wayne Madsen has been named captain of Italy’s squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in India and Sri Lanka from next month. Notably, this will be Italy’s first-ever appearance at a Cricket World Cup.

Ex South Africa star included

The Italy squad includes former South Africa international JJ Smuts. The team also features two sets of brothers, Harry and Benjamin Manenti, and Anthony and Justin Mosca.

Italy captain for T20 World Cup 2026

During the qualification phase, Italy were led by former Australia player Joe Burns. However, he was removed as captain and left out of the squad late last year. Italy still managed to qualify by finishing second behind the Netherlands in the Europe Regional Qualifier held in July.

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Italy's coaching staff

The coaching staff includes head coach John Davison, with Kevin O’Brien and Dougie Brown working as assistant coaches.

Italy's group in T20 World Cup 2026

Italy have been placed in Group C along with Bangladesh, England, Nepal and West Indies. They will start their campaign against Bangladesh in Kolkata on February 9. After that, they travel to Mumbai to face Nepal on February 12, before returning to Kolkata to play England on February 16 and West Indies on February 19.

T20 World Cup schedule

The T20 World Cup 2026 will run from February 7 to March 8. A total of 20 teams will take part, split into four groups of five in the opening round. The top two teams from each group will move on to the Super Eight stage, where they will again be divided into two groups. The top two teams from those groups will then qualify for the semi-finals.

Italy squad for T20 World Cup

Zain Ali, Marcus Campopiano (wk), Ali Hasan, Crishan Kalugamage, Wayne Madsen (capt), Harry Manenti, Gian Piero Meade, Anthony Mosca, Justin Mosca, Syed Naqvi, Benjamin Manenti, Jaspreet Singh, JJ Smuts, Grant Stewart, Thomas Draca