India, Pakistan in Group 2; ICC announces draw for the 2021 ICC World T20
Today the International Cricket Council (ICC) has formally announced the groups for the T20 World Cup. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah have traveled to Oman to represent the Indian board at the event.
Group 1 - England, Australia, West Indies, South Africa, Winner group A, and Runner up group B
Group 2- India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Winner group B, and Runner up group A
India and Pakistan are in the same group for the 2021 ICC World T20
India was supposed to host this edition of T20I cricket's flagship event, but the second wave of COVID-19 in the country forced BCCI and ICC to relocate the tournament to UAE and Oman. The tournament will comprise 45 games, including the final.
The top 8 ranked teams have directly earned their places for the main round of the showpiece event this year. Four other teams will join them after playing the Qualifying round. 2014 ICC T20 World Cup champions Sri Lanka will have to play the Qualifiers to earn a place in the main event. Oman, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, and Namibia are the other teams that will compete in the Qualifying round.
Initially, in the first round, the eight teams mentioned above will battle it out, and the top four teams from this stage will get a chance to compete in the following main event comprising 12 teams.
Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, and Namibia
Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, and Oman
So far, only the West Indies side has managed to win the T20 World Cup on two occasions (in 2012 and 2016). India, Pakistan, England, and Sri Lanka have won one title each. It will be interesting to see whether this edition of the Tournament will see a first-time winner or not.