Arch-rivals India and Pakistan were placed in the same group for the T20 World Cup on Friday as the ICC announced the pools for its flagship event, set to be played in the UAE and Oman from October 17 to November 14.
India and Pakistan are placed in Group 2 along with World Test Championship winners New Zealand and Afghanistan.
The Group 1 has defending champions West Indies, former winners England, Australia and South Africa.
The Groups of Super 12s have been selected on the basis of team rankings as of 20 March 2021, according to the ICC.
Two teams will join each of the groups from the qualifying rounds.
Eight teams will contest the first round including automatic qualifiers Sri Lanka and Bangladesh with the remaining six who booked their spot through the ICC men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019.
Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia join Sri Lanka in Group A, while Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland will face Bangladesh in Group B.
“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,” ICC acting chief executive Geoff Allardice said in a release.
“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.”
Allardice unveiled the draws in Muscat hours after the BCCI top officials — president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah — arrived in Dubai.
Ganguly, said, “It is good to get Oman in the frame of world cricket with the hosting of the ICC men’s T20 World Cup. It will help a lot of young players take an interest in the game. We know it will be a world class event in this part of the world.”
Shah said, “There is nothing that separates the two groups as both are packed with sides that are highly competitive in the shortest format of the game.”
This will be the first T20 World Cup since 2016 when West Indies beat England in the final in Kolkata.
“Oman Cricket has come a long way and today is a watershed moment for us to have ICC and BCCI here at Oman Cricket Academy to announce the ICC men’s T20 World Cup groups!,” Oman Cricket chairman, Pankaj Khimji, said.
Always pressure match vs Pak
A clash between India and Pakistan is always a “high intensity” game but the team is not currently thinking about the T20 World Cup as there is a lot of cricket left before the marquee event, said experienced seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
“Look, it is always exciting to play against Pakistan and it is always a pressure match, so of course it is going to be, you know, a high intensity match,” Bhuvneshwar said at a virtual press conference.
“But to be honest we haven’t really thought about it, how it is going to be, because we have got a lot of cricket left, we have got matches in Sri Lanka, of course Test matches in England and then IPL and then World Cup.”
“But once of course the IPL gets over, we will start thinking about that (World Cup),” said the 31-year-old Meerut-born pacer.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir, who has been part of many India-Pakistan games in his career, said senior players such as skipper Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will play a big role in the marquee clash.
“...It is the responsibility of the senior guys to probably keep the younger guys calm because ultimately it’s not the emotion that will win you a game of cricket, it is the contest between the bat and the ball that will end up winning you a game of cricket,” Gambhir said on Star Sports show ICC T20 World Cup Special.
“So people like Virat Kohli for example, or Rohit Sharma will have a huge responsibility when Indian takes on Pakistan.”