ICC T20 World Cup 2021: India To Face Arch-Rivals Pakistan In Group Stage
Mumbai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced the groups for the Men’s T20 World Cup2021 to be hosted by the BCCI in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from October 17 to November 14.
India and Pakistan will resume their on-field rivalry in the T20 World Cup 2021 as they have been placed in Group 2 for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021.
Both the teams will now only compete in ICC events and the last time they played was in the 2019 World Cup. New Zealand and Afghanistan are the other two teams in Group 2. New Zealand is undefeated against India in the ICC competition.
Defending champions West Indies, England, Australia and South Africa are placed in Group 1. Darren Sammy-led West Indies defeated Eoin Morgan’s England to win the trophy for the second time in 2016. 2 teams from Group A and Group B will join Group 1 and Group 2.
Group A consists of 4 teams namely Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia. Group B consists of Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Oman.
The tournament was to be played in India but due to COVID-19 it had to be shifted to UAE. The T20 World Cup will be played in the UAE from October 17 to November 14. The full schedule for the tournament will be announced soon.
“We are delighted to announce the groups for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. Some of the best matchups have been 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,” Geoff Allardice, the Acting Chief Executive of ICC said in the release.
“Given the disruption caused by COVID-19, we selected the cutoff date to ensure that we were able to include maximum cricket in the rankings. There is no doubt that we will see some highly competitive cricket when this competition starts in just three months.”
“With the announcement of the groups, our countdown to the ICC T20 World Cup has begun. There is nothing that separates the two groups as both are full of 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 it. I am sure we will see some exciting and nail-biting games,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said.
“I am particularly delighted to be in Oman. As a major force in world cricket, the BCCI has always endeavoured to promote and assist Associate Nations. In my capacity as Asian Cricket Council President, my vision is to take cricket far and deep into Asia. Co-hosting the World Cup will put Oman Cricket on the global stage. They are also playing the Qualifiers and it will be an icing on the cake if they make it to the Super 12s.”
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