ICC announce groups for T20 WC, India and Pakistan placed together

ICC on Friday announced the groups for the upcoming T20 World Cup in UAE. An India, Pakistan encounter is a cream of any ICC event and the apex body has ensured that fans witness the two Asian giants clash in the showpiece event. Both teams are clubbed together in Group B alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan and two qualifying teams.

50 over champions England is placed in Group One with the defending champions West Indies, arch-rivals Australia and two qualifying teams. The group looks strong, as both West Indies and Australia are dangerous when it comes to the shortest format. Meanwhile Group one also includes South Africa, who are currently re-building their team post the retirement of few legendary players. 

Before the main event kicks off, the remaining eight teams will battle it out to enter the Super 12 stage. There are two groups with Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, and Namibia comprising of Group A, while Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea battle it out in Group B. The top two teams from the two groups will progress in the Super 12 stage.

The global event is set to be played from October 17 to November 14. While the super 12 phase will be held in the UAE, the qualifiers of the T20 World Cup will be played in Oman.

 Geoff Allardice is happy with the revised T20 World Cup schedule 

ICC acting chief executive Geoff Allardice said: “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.”

 “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.