The countdown for the next edition of the ICC T20 World Cup has begun. The tournament will run from October 17 to November 14 2021.
This will be the seventh edition of the tournament. The West Indies go in as the defending champions, having won the last edition in 2016.
This edition was originally scheduled to have been played in India, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BCCI and the ICC decided to move the tournament to the UAE and Oman. The BCCI will continue to be the hosts, but the matches will not be played on Indian soil.
This time, there are as many as 16 teams which will be part of the tournament. These 16 have already been divided into two groups. The first group of 8 teams will play Round Robin matches to try and enter the Super 12s. The second group of 8 teams are already in the Super 12s.
Along with the big teams and major contenders, countries like Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Oman, Papua New Guinea etc will also be part of the tournament this time.
On Tuesday, the ICC announced the schedule for the tournament. For India and Pakistan fans, the big marquee clash has been scheduled for a Sunday - October 24.
In case you have been wondering what the format of the tournament is going to be here is a full explainer:
TOTAL NUMBER OF TEAMS: 16
TOTAL NUMBER OF MATCHES: 45
Groups were selected on the basis of team rankings as of March 20, 2021.
8 teams will be in action in Round 1, including automatic qualifiers - Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They will join six other teams which booked their spots via the ICC Men's T20 World Cup qualifiers 2019.
TEAMS STRAIGHT THROUGH TO THE SUPER 12s: India, Australia, England, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan
TEAMS WHICH WILL PLAY THE FIRST ROUND (QUALIFICATION FOR SUPER 12s STAGE): Ireand, Namibia, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Scotland
ROUND 1: Two groups of four teams each (8 teams in all) - Round Robin matches to be played to determine the top 2 teams from each group (4 teams in all) which will go through to the next round (Super 12s)
ROUND 1 GROUP A: Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Sri Lanka
ROUND 1 GROUP B: Bangladesh, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Scotland
Top 2 teams from both groups go through to Super 12s (A1, A2, B1 and B2)
SUPER 12s:
The 8 teams already in the Super 12s will be joined by the 4 teams which topped Round 1 (A1, A2, B1 and B2) for a total of 12 teams.
Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, A1 (Winner Group A), B2 (Runner-up Group B) - - Round robin matches to decide the two best teams
Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, B1 (Winner Group A), A2 (Runner-up Group A) - - Round robin matches to decide the two best teams
KNOCKOUTS:
The top four teams, across Group 1 and 2 from the Super 12s qualify for the knockouts
First Semi-Final: A1 vs B2
Second Semi Final: B1 vs A2
- Both Semi-Finals have reserve days
Final: Winner of Semi Final 1 vs winner of Semi Final 2
- The Final has a reserve day
