ECB move start times for India T20Is to maximise TV viewership

Three floodlit contests will begin at 5.30pm BST (10pm IST), an hour earlier than previously anticipated

Matt Roller

Published: Jun 8, 2026, 12:16 PM (3 hrs ago)

The ECB have brought forward start times for England's floodlit T20Is against India next month in order to maximise TV viewing figures.

India's men will tour for eight white-ball games from July 1-19, with five T20Is and three ODIs. The three evening games in the five-match T20I series were initially scheduled to begin at 6.30pm local time (11pm IST), as announced by the ECB last year, but have since been brought forward to 5.30pm (10pm IST) starts after discussions with broadcasters.

Start times for England's home internationals are finalised after consultation between the ECB, venues, opposition boards, and domestic and overseas broadcasters - in this case, Sky Sports (UK) and the Sony Sports Network (India).

The change in start times from the 6.30pm slot, which has become standard in recent seasons, underlines English cricket's reliance on "high-value broadcast series" - effectively, those which feature India - which was laid bare in the ECB's recently published financial report.

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The ECB is projected to register a profit this year due to India's tour but anticipates recording a loss in 2027 despite England hosting a men's Ashes series against Australia. "Attention should be drawn to the fact that the ECB's revenues are inherently cyclical, reflecting the scheduling of high-value broadcast series by opposition," the report said.

Tickets for India's tour to England went on sale late last year and have proved popular: all three ODIs have sold out, and there are only a few hundred tickets still available across the five T20Is.

Sunset at the height of the English summer takes place after 9pm, meaning that all five games could be completed before the floodlights can take effect.

India announced on Saturday their 16-man squad for the T20I series - and their two-match stopover against Ireland in Belfast immediately before - with Shreyas Iyer replacing Suryakumar Yadav as captain and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi included in a senior India squad for the first time.

Cricket Ireland have noted a recent uptick in interest in the two Ireland-India T20Is on June 26 and 28, which could see Sooryavanshi make his debut. But both matches had already sold out before the squad was named, with the Civil Service ground at Stormont in Belfast set to operate at a capacity of around 4,500.

Matt Roller is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98

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