Kolkata: India and Pakistan have been clubbed together as the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the groups for the men’s T20 World Cup to be held in Oman and UAE from October 17 to November 14. India were to host the mega tournament but had to shift it to UAE and Oman due to the COVID situation in the country. BCCI will still be the hosts.
Based on the current ICC rankings, the ICC has divided the top eight teams into two groups in the Super 12. Eight more teams have been divided into another two groups in Round 1 of which the top two from each group will make it to the Super 12.
While New Zealand and Afghanistan join India and Pakistan in Super 12 Group 2, defending champions West Indies are place in Group 1 along with England, Australia and South Africa. Asian powerhouses Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will have to play Round 1 to make their way into the Super 12.
In Round 1, Bangladesh will have to fight it out with Scotland, Oman and Papua New Guinea on Group B while Sri Lanka have Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia in company in Group B.
“We are delighted to announce the groups for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. There are some great match ups offered by the groups and it starts to bring the event to life for our fans as our first multi-team event since the onset of the global pandemic draws closer,” said ICC Acting Chief Executive Geoff Allardice.
“Given the disruption caused by COVID-19, we selected the cutoff date as close as possible to the event to ensure we were able to include the maximum amount of cricket in the rankings which determine the groups. There is no doubt we will witness some highly competitive cricket when the event gets underway in just three months.”
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said, “It is good to get Oman in the frame of world cricket with the hosting of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. It will help a lot of young players take an interest in the game. We know it will be a world-class event in this part of the world.”
The venues for the men’s World T20 are Dubai International Stadium, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Sharjah Stadium, and the Oman Cricket Academy Ground.
The Final Groupings are :
Round 1 :
Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, the Netherlands, Namibia
Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Oman
Super 12s :
Group 1: West Indies, England, Australia, South Africa, A1, B2.
Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, A2, B1.
