The International Cricket Council on Friday announced the groups for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Virat Kohli’s India have been drawn against arch-rivals Pakistan in group B. The tournament will be hosted by the BCCI in Oman and the United Arab Emirates from October 17 to November 14 .
The groups were selected on the basis of team rankings as of 20 March 2021, ICC said. Defending champions West Indies are pooled with England, Australia and South Africa in Group 1 of the Super 12s, with two qualifiers from Round 1 joining them.
India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan along with two qualifiers from Round 1 will make group 2.
Eight teams will contest the first round. These eight include automatic qualifiers Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and the six who booked their spot through the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019. Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia join Sri Lanka in Group A, whilst Oman, PNG and Scotland will face Bangladesh in Group B.
Also read: Delhi Capitals fans can’t keep calm as Shreyas Iyer hits nets after 100 days
“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,” ICC Acting Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said.
“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,” he added.
Also read: Ranbir Kapoor or Varun Dhawan? Actors who can play onscreen Sourav Ganguly
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah said, “With the announcement of groupings, our countdown for the ICC T20 World Cup kickstarts. There is nothing that separates the two groups as both are packed with sides that are highly competitive in the shortest format of the game. Having said that, the exciting T20 format is known for its surprises, and we must be prepared for the same. I am sure we will witness some exciting and nail-biting games.”
The groupings:
Round 1
Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, the Netherlands and NamibiaGroup B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Oman
Super 12s
Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, A1 and B2.Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, A2 and B1.
