ICC T20 World Cup: Virat Kohli’s India to face Babar Azam’s Pakistan; Australia, England in group of death – Virat Kohli’s Team India have been clubbed with Babar Azam’s Pakistan in Group 2 of Super 12 in the ICC T20 World Cup, slated to be played in the Oman and UAE from October 17. Kane Williamson’s New Zealand is the other team in the group. Meanwhile, Australia and England are in group of death (Group 1) alongside West Indies and South Africa apart from two qualifiers.
T20 World Cup 2021 groups
Round 1 (Qualifying stage):
Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia
Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Oman
Super 12s (Final round):
Group 1: Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies, A1, B2
Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, B1, A2
Australia have been grouped with England, South Africa and the West Indies along with two yet-to-be-determined qualifiers for this year’s T20 World Cup in the Middle East.
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The ICC has confirmed the groups for the seventh edition of the men’s 20-over tournament, which will once again consist of two stages – the preliminary qualifier round and the Super 12s.
ICC World Cup: The first round will feature eight teams, split into two groups of four, who did not automatically qualify for the main part of the tournament. The top two from each of these groups – Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia are in Group A while Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Oman are in Group B – will then progress to the Super 12 stage.
Each group in the Super 12s already consists of four teams that automatically qualified due to their high ranking. Australia are in Group 1 along with England, South Africa and the West Indies, while India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan are the top-ranked teams in Group 2.
ICC T20 World Cup: The groups were picked based on the ICC T20 rankings from 20 March this year. The winner of Group A and the runner-up in Group B from the first round will join Group 1 in the Super 12s, while the winner of Group B and runner-up of Group A will join Group 2.
Each team in the Super 12s will play the five other teams in their group, with the top two teams in each group then progressing to the semi-finals.
The full fixture for the tournament, which will run from October 17 until November 14 and be played in Oman and the United Arab Emirates, will be finalised at a later date.
ICC World Cup: The story of the seventh men’s T20 World Cup has been eventful long before a ball has even been bowled.
The tournament had been due to be held last year in Australia, but that was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. India was due to host the 2021 iteration, but the coronavirus catastrophe in that country forced it to be relocated to the Middle East.
The T20 World Cup remains the one major piece of silverware the Australian men’s team is yet to win, with the closest they’ve come being when they finished runners-up to England in 2010.
Editors pick
