Wow! India and Pakistan, the eternal cricket rivals, belong to the same group!
At last, the countdown for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 has started. It gave rise to cricket fever among fans around the world.
Initially, Australia was scheduled to hold the T20 World Cup Tournament from October 18 to November 15, last year. It was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in July 2020, ICC confirmed postponement to 2021. Again in August 2020, the International Cricket Council reaffirmed that India would be hosting the tournament.
It is the seventh edition of the tournament and will be hosted by BCCI in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The West Indies will go into the tournament as the defending champions as they have won the 2016 T20 world cup.
It comprises 16 teams, and there will be 45 matches in the tournament. The top 8 teams will have direct entry to the super 12s. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the other 6 teams have to pass through qualifying rounds to go to the Super 12 group.
Grouping
Grouping arrangement has great surprises for the cricket lovers of the subcontinent. India will take on their arch-rival Pakistan in Dubai on October 24, 2021. After a long, long time, cricket fans all over the world will watch a great cricketing battle between India and Pakistan. The ashes rival England and Australia will battle for their cricketing supremacy at the same venue on 30th October 2021.
The groups were selected based on the ranking of the teams as of 20 March 2021. West Indies, defending champions is placed with England, Australia, and South Africa in Group 1, and two qualifying teams from round 1 will join the group.
Group 2 comprises Afghanistan, India, New Zealand, and Pakistan, and two qualifiers from round 1.
There will be 8 teams in the first round. Group A includes Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, and Sri Lanka. Group B includes Bangladesh, Oman, Papua New Guinea, and Scotland.
Super 12 of Group 1will include A1 and B2 of the first rounds. And Super 12 of Group 2will include A2 and B1 of the first rounds.
The first and second teams from each group will play in the semi-finals.
- Teams having direct entry to Super 12s: India, Australia, England, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
- Teams playing in the qualifying first round: Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman, Papua New Guinea, and Scotland.
Kick-off
The seventh ICC T20 World Cup 2021 tournament commences with the Round 1 match between Oman and Papua New Guinea at Muscat, on October 17, 2021.
The Super 12 group plays start with a match between Australia and South Africa at Abu Dhabi on 23rd October 2021. The twice winners of this tournament, West Indies will also take on England on the opening day of the super 12 group matches.
Summary of match schedules
Round1 matches will be held from 17 October to 22nd October at Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Sharjah. Eveready, there will be two matches and there will be 12 matches altogether.
Super 12 matches will be held from 23rd October to 8th November in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai. There will be 30 matches and on most of the days, there will be two matches.
Knockouts
The first semifinal will be on 10th November in Abu Dhabi and the second semifinal will be the next day, 11th November in Dubai.
The final match of the tournament will be played on 14th November 2021 in Dubai.
India Super 12 match schedule
India will play 5 matches in their Super 12 group encounter as below:
- 24 Oct: India v Pakistan, Dubai (18h00)
- 31 Oct: India v New Zealand, Dubai (18h00)
- 3 Nov: India v Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi (18h00)
- 5 Nov: India v B1, Dubai (18h00)
- 8 Nov: India v A2, Dubai (18h00)
Round 1
17 Oct: Oman v Papua New Guinea, Muscat (14h00); Bangladesh v Scotland, Muscat (18h00)
18 Oct: Ireland v Netherlands, Abu Dhabi (14h00); Sri Lanka v Namibia, Abu Dhabi (18h00)
19 Oct: Scotland v PNG, Muscat (14h00); Oman v Bangladesh, Muscat (18h00)
20 Oct: Namibia v Netherlands, Abu Dhabi (14h00); Sri Lanka v Ireland, Abu Dhabi (18h00)
21 Oct: Bangladesh v Papua New Guinea, Muscat (14h00); Oman v Scotland, Muscat (18h00)
22 Oct: Namibia v Ireland, Sharjah (14h00); Sri Lanka v Netherlands, Sharjah (18h00)
Super 12s
23 Oct: Australia v South Africa, Abu Dhabi (14h00); England v West Indies, Dubai (18h00)
24 Oct: A1 v B2, Sharjah (14h00); India v Pakistan, Dubai (18h00)
25 Oct: Afghanistan v B1, Sharjah (18h00)
26 Oct: South Africa v West Indies, Dubai (14h00); Pakistan v New Zealand, Sharjah (18h00)
27 Oct: England v B2, Abu Dhabi (14h00); B1 v A2, Abu Dhabi (18h00)
28 Oct: Australia v A1, Dubai (18h00)
29 Oct: West Indies v B2, Sharjah (14h00); Pakistan v Afghanistan, Dubai (18h00)
30 Oct: South Africa v A1, Sharjah (14h00); Australia v England, Dubai (18h00)
31 Oct: Afghanistan v A2, Abu Dhabi (14h00); India v New Zealand, Dubai (18h00)
1 Nov: England v A1, Sharjah (18h00)
2 Nov: South Africa v B2, Abu Dhabi (14h00); Pakistan v A2, Abu Dhabi (18h00)
3 Nov: New Zealand v B1, Dubai (14h00); India v Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi (18h00)
4 Nov: Australia v B2, Dubai (14h00); West Indies v A1, Abu Dhabi (18h00)
5 Nov: New Zealand v A2, Sharjah (14h00); India v B1, Dubai (18h00)
6 Nov: Australia v West Indies, Abu Dhabi (14h00); England v South Africa, Sharjah (18h00)
7 Nov: New Zealand v Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi (14h00): Pakistan v B1, Sharjah (18h00)
8 Nov: India v A2, Dubai (18h00)
Knock-out stage
10 Nov: Semi-final 1 (A1 v B2), Abu Dhabi (18h00)
11 Nov: Semi-final 2 (B1 v A2), Dubai (18h00)
14 Nov: Final, Dubai (18h00)
Summing up
Now cricket lovers around the world are happy that the tournament will begin soon. They are counting days with the prayer that the tournament will not be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
