India, Pakistan in same group at Twenty20 World Cup
Pakistan’s Haris Rauf, right, celebrates with Pakistan’s Shadab Khan ager dismissing England’s James Vince during the third one day international cricket match between England and Pakistan at Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham, England, Tuesday, July 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Cricket rivals India and Pakistan will be in the same group at the Twenty20 World Cup.
The ICC announced the groups Friday for the Oct. 17-Nov. 14 tournament.
New Zealand and Afghanistan also are in Group 2 with India and Pakistan, along with two countries making their way from the qualifiers.
Group 1 has defending champion West Indies, England, Australia and South Africa, plus two qualifiers.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India had to move the event to the United Arab Emirates due to the coronavirus pandemic. India remains the official host of the tournament.
The two groups are based on team rankings as of March 20, 2021.
“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,” ICC’s acting chief executive Geoff Allardice said Friday.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah said both groups are “packed with sides that are highly competitive in the shortest format of the game.”
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are among the eight teams in the qualifiers for the Super 12 stage of the tournament with Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland also competing.
Dubai International Stadium, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Sharjah Stadium, and the Oman Cricket Academy ground will host games.
The ICC said that the tournament’s schedule will be announced in due course.
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