NEW DELHI, July 16: India has figured with Pakistan, Afghanistan and New Zealand in Group 2 of the T20 World Cup to be held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from October 17 to November 14 when the cup final is scheduled to be played.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced the groups for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. The two groups have been selected on the basis of team rankings as on March 20.
Australia, England, South Africa and West Indies are in Group 1 while, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and New Zealand are in Group 2 of Super 12s.
“We are delighted to announce the groups for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. There are some great matchups 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.
In the qualifier round, eight teams will contest including the automatic qualifiers Sri Lanka and Bangladesh with the rest six who sealed their spot in the qualifiers in 2019. Sri Lanka will be joined by Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia in Group A while, Bangladesh will be joined by Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland in Group B. The top two teams from each group will progress to the Super 12.
“It is good to get Oman in the frame of world cricket with the hosting of the 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,” BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said in a statement.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah also expressed his excitement after the announcement. “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 T20 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,” he said.
(Manas Dasgupta)