MUMBAI: The ICC announced the full schedule of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 on Tuesday, which sees India begin their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 24.
The T20 World Cup, being hosted in the UAE and Oman, will get underway from 17 October, with the final to be played in Dubai on 14 November.
India and Pakistan are placed in the Group 2 of the Super12 stage, along with Afghanistan (emphasis ours) and New Zealand.
The heavyweight clash will take place in Dubai on 24 October. Pakistan then take on New Zealand in Sharjah on 26 October, in a tough start for the 2009 champions.
Afghanistan is scheduled to begin their campaign on 25 October at Sharjah, taking on the winners of Group B from the first round.
India’s next match is against New Zealand on October 31 at Dubai followed by their clash against Afghanistan on November 3 in Abu Dhabi. The Virat Kohli-led side will then face the first-placed side from Group B on November 5 at Dubai.
Super12
The second round of the tournament – the Super12 stage – will get underway in Abu Dhabi on 23 October, with the Group 1 contest between Australia and South Africa. This will be followed up with an evening clash between England and West Indies in Dubai.
Old rivals England and Australia will lock horns in Dubai on 30 October. The group will conclude on 6 November with matches between Australia and West Indies in Abu Dhabi, and England and South Africa in Sharjah.
Group 2 will commence with a heavyweight clash between India and Pakistan in Dubai on 24 October at 6pm local time. Pakistan then take on New Zealand in Sharjah on 26 October, in a tough start for the 2009 champions. Afghanistan begin their campaign on 25 October at Sharjah, taking on the winners of Group B from the first round.
The group will conclude on 8 November, with India taking on the second-placed Round 1 qualifier from Group A.
Semi-finals
The first semi-final will be held in Abu Dhabi on 10 November at 6pm local time. The second semi-final will be hosted by Dubai on 11 November. Both semi-finals have reserve days.
The final
The marquee clash of the tournament will take place in Dubai at 6pm local time on 14 November, Sunday, with Monday acting as the reserve day for the final.
SPORTZPOWER’S PERSPECTIVE: Two months is a long time so the ICC is clearly living on a hope and an prayer as far as scheduling the Afghanistan team into its scheme of things at a time when the country has been taken over by the Taliban and there is zero clarity on the stance the fundamentalist group will take to sport in general and sending a team to the T20 World Cup in particular.
Still, one could argue that it is better to take a positive approach than presume the worst.
In terms of logistics, first off the bat the ICC will perforce have to work with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (who will have to get the Taliban on board) to get the players into the UAE.
There is of course the unanswered question over what would happen to the tournament’s integrity IF the ACB is thrown out of the ICC as a fallout of sanctions against the Taliban regime coming in to play.
But the ICC taking a position that it will cross that particular bridge if and when it comes to it cannot really be faulted.
For the full ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 schedule, click here…
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