Oman to host Group B first-round matches of T20 World Cup
India and Pakistan to face off in Super 12s
Oman are grouped with Bangladesh, Scotland and Papua New Guinea in the Group B of the first round of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2021 to be hosted by Oman and United Arab Emirates from October 17 to November 14.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), will organise the World Cup in Oman and the UAE.
"The hosting of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup will put Oman in the frame of world cricket," BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said after attending the function to announce the groupings at the Oman Cricket Academy at Al Amerat Ground in Muscat on Friday.
"It will be a world class event and will help a lot of local young players take an interest in the game. It will create a new passion for cricket in the region too,” the Indian great said.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who is also the current president of the Asian Cricket Council, said Oman fully deserved to be on the global map.
“I am particularly delighted to be in Oman. The BCCI has always endeavoured to promote and assist Associate Nations.”
"Co-hosting the 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."
HIGH HOPES
Oman had previously beaten the teams other than Bangladesh in their group and have high hopes to make it to the Super 12.
“We had beaten PNG and Scotland before and we remain confident to make it to the Super 12. However, we have to be at our best to make this possible as this is the World Cup and all teams will put out their best efforts,” Oman head coach Duleep Mendis told Oman Observer.
Two teams from Group A and Group B will qualify to the Super 12.
Group B matches of the first round will be held in the UAE.
Group A has Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia.
Oman Cricket Chairman Pankaj Khimji said it was a watershed moment for the Sultanate.
“Oman Cricket has come a long way and today is a watershed moment for us to have ICC and BCCI here at the Oman Cricket Academy in Amerat to announce the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup groups!”
INDIA, PAKISTAN TO FACE OFF
The most sought after match in world cricket, India and Pakistan will meet in the Super 12s stage.
This comes after more than two years after they met in the 2019 50-over World Cup.
The Super 12s will be played in the three UAE centres - Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
Teams in the Super 12s have been pooled into two groups. India and Pakistan are in Group 2 alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan and two qualifiers - B1 and A2. Group 1 comprises defending champions West Indies along with England, Australia and South Africa and the other two qualifiers - A1 and B2. The groups were selected on the basis of the team rankings as of March 20, 2021.
"There are some great match ups 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," Geoff Allardice, the ICC's acting chief executive, said. "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.
"There is no doubt we will witness some highly competitive cricket when the event gets underway in just three months."
The tournament was earlier scheduled to be played in India, but owing to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic in the country, the BCCI decided to move it overseas, even though the Indian board continues to be official hosts for the event.
The tournament schedule will be announced in due course.
Groupings:
Round 1
Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, the Netherlands and Namibia
Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Oman
Super 12s
Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, A1 and B2
Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, A2 and B1.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
