What is Test Twenty? All you need to know about cricket's latest format which kicks-off in January 2026

It is the age of innovations as far as formats in cricket go. While Test cricket, One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internatonals remain the primary three formats in the game, people around the globe are trying for innovations.

The T10, while not yet in international cricket, does have popularity with the ten-overs-a-side contests offering more thrills and entertainment. England's revolution called 'The Hundred', which had 100 balls per innings, has had mixed feedback thus far. In fact, it is a format that may not last for long in the near future.

Amidst all this, we now have a new format that is on its way, called Test Twenty. The name is self-descriptive to an extent as it is a mix of Test cricket, One-Day Cricket and Twenty20 cricket. This new format has four former cricketers in Sir Clive Lloyd, AB de Villiers, Harbhajan Singh and Matthew Hayden as the members of the advisory board.

The announcement of this new format was made by de Villiers on social media platforms in an interaction with the press.

Basic Rules of the Test Twenty competition

• Each match will played across a single day, like an ODI match.
• The teams will play two innings each, meaning that a match will have four innings like a Test match.
• Each innings will be of 20 overs apiece, just like a T20 innings.
• Players for this competition will be in the age group 13-19 with the criteria likely to be expanded in future editions.
• There will be six teams competing for the silverware.
• The first edition will be hosted by India in January 2026