160 young cricketers to compete in inaugural Test Twenty tournament in Sri Lanka

Test Twenty, a new cricket format featuring separate girls' and boys' matches with combined scores, will debut in Colombo from November 14 to 29, 2026. The tournament will feature 160 young players from five continents competing for four continental teams

Hyderabad: On November 14, young cricketers from around the world will take the field at the Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for the inaugural Test Twenty championship, a new format in which girls’ and boys’ teams will compete under a shared scoring system.

For the first time, a toss will decide two things: which team bats first and whether the girls’ or boys’ match takes place first in this mixed-gender cricket championship.

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Girls will play girls, and boys will play boys. However, the runs scored by both teams will be combined, and only the aggregate score will determine the result. The runs scored by the girls will influence the boys’ result, and vice versa. The organisers describe this as an unprecedented development in cricket.

Cricket has had three established formats in nearly 150 years: Test cricket, one-day cricket and T20. On November 14, Test Twenty will introduce what its organisers describe as a fourth format.

The inaugural season of Test Twenty will be held at the SSC in Colombo from November 14 to 29, 2026, with November 30 reserved as a contingency day. A total of 160 young cricketers aged 13 to 21 will be selected from around the world and drafted into four continental teams. The tournament will feature girls’ and boys’ XIs representing the same team, with their scores combined to determine the result.

Why Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka has a longstanding tradition of schoolboy cricket. The Royal-Thomian encounter, first played in 1879, held its 147th edition at the SSC in March this year. The annual school cricket fixtures, widely known as the Big Matches, remain an important part of the island’s sporting culture.

The country has produced celebrated cricketers such as Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. In 2006, Sangakkara and Jayawardene shared a 624-run partnership at the SSC, which remains the highest partnership in Test cricket.

The organisers say Sri Lanka’s deep-rooted youth cricket culture makes it a fitting host for the inaugural tournament. From November, Colombo will serve as the home of the new format.

80 overs, two balls, one result

Every Test Twenty match will be played in a single day, with each team batting twice. The first 40 overs will be played in whites with a red ball during daylight, while the remaining 40 overs will be played in coloured clothing with a white ball under the SSC floodlights.

According to the organisers, the format will feature the red and white balls in the same match. Scores from the first half will carry forward into the second, ensuring that runs scored during the day remain part of the final total at night.

Her runs, his match; his runs, her match

Each of the four continental teams will have a 40-player squad comprising 20 girls and 20 boys. In every match, the girls will play against the girls and the boys against the boys. Their scores will then be combined on a single scoreboard, with the aggregate total determining the outcome.

Under the organisers’ Parity Rule™, the toss will decide which side bats first. The runs scored by the girls during the day will affect the boys’ result under lights, while the boys’ runs will contribute to the girls’ result. The order may be reversed in the next match, depending on the toss.

The organisers say the girls’ match will not be a curtain-raiser but an integral part of the final result.

The format will also bring girls and boys together in the dugout under a common team identity. Players will watch and support each other’s innings, knowing that every run contributes to their team’s overall score.

The organisers describe the format as a first in cricket, with girls’ and boys’ teams playing separate matches but contributing to one shared result.

From thousands to 160

Thousands of young cricketers from five continents registered their interest in the tournament. Over the past 300 days, candidates progressed through on-ground and online trials before the Global Selection Committee selected the leading prospects.

The committee is chaired by Rajkumar Sharma, the Indian coach known for identifying and mentoring Virat Kohli during his early years.

The final 160 players — 80 girls and 80 boys — will be named through a Players Draft later this month. They will form the inaugural batch of Test Twenty players.

The tournament will open with a ceremony on November 14 and conclude with the final on November 29. All matches will be broadcast live on Sony Sports Network, while the international feed will be made available to broadcasters and streaming platforms in markets around the world, according to the organisers.

The people behind Test Twenty

The tournament has an advisory board comprising AB de Villiers, Matthew Hayden and Sir Clive Lloyd. The Global Selection Committee is chaired by Rajkumar Sharma, while operations are led by Mike Fordham. Co-founder Rohit Maroo is responsible for commercial strategy.

Gaurav Bahirvani, founder of Test Twenty and the author of the Parity Rule™, said:

“A year ago this week, I introduced Test Twenty to the world with AB, Matthew, Sir Clive, Mike and Rohit beside me. It was an idea on paper, and a promise to young cricketers everywhere: a format of their own, a tournament of their own, and an ecosystem built around them.

“On November 14, that promise walks out for the first time at the SSC in Colombo. Parity is not only in the rules or the way our game is played. It is in the broadcast. Some nights, it will be the girls under the floodlights, in primetime, in front of the world. Other nights, the boys. Every night, one scoreboard.

“We found the right home for it. Sri Lanka fills a stadium for a schoolboy match. No country on earth loves its young cricketers the way this island does.

“From our very first meeting, the leadership at Sri Lanka Cricket has been very supportive and encouraging. Then the president and committee of the SSC warmly opened their doors to our young cricketers from every corner of the world. We are deeply grateful to them all.”

“For the first time in the history of the game, girls and boys will win together, or lose together. That moment now belongs to Sri Lanka. We are all going to Colombo,” he added.