The groups for the T20 World Cup were announced on Friday.© AFP
India have been paired with Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan in Group 2 of the Super 12 for the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Friday. They will be joined by two teams that are yet to be decided. The groups have been selected on the basis of team rankings as of March 20, 2021. Group 1 will see defending champions West Indies take on England, Australia and South Africa. Round 1 of the T20 World Cup sees Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia in Group A and Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Oman in Group B. The winners of Group A and runners-up of Group B will progress to Group 1 in the Super 12, while the winner of Group B and runners-up of Group A will be a part of Group 2.
“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 CEO Geoff Allardice was quoted as saying in a release.
“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.
“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,” BCCI Secretary Jay Shah said.
While the tournament is being held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, BCCI are still the official hosts as it was originally set to be played in India.
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“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,” BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said.
The 2021 T20 World Cup will be played from October 17 to November 14.
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