Tag: ICC T20 World Cup

  • Pakistan squad for New Zealand, England and ICC T20 World Cup announced

    Pakistan squad for New Zealand, England and ICC T20 World Cup announced

    Pakistan cricket selectors have named the 15-player squad for the upcoming Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) against New Zealand and England, and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.

    The seven home T20Is in Lahore and Rawalpindi will be played from September 26 to October 14, while Pakistan will proceed to take on India in a battle of former champions in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup opener in Dubai on October 24.

    Domestic performers Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah have been drafted into the side to provide more firepower in the middle-order.

    The 15-player squad includes five batters (Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez and Sohaib Maqsood), two wicketkeeper-batters (Azam Khan and Mohammad Rizwan), four all-rounders (Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Shadab Khan) and four fast bowlers (Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain and Shaheen Shah Afridi).

    Travelling reserves are Fakhar Zaman, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir.

    Announcing the squad at a presser, Chief Selector Muhammad Wasim said: “While selecting the squad, we have tried to cover all our bases by catering for the modern day brand of T20 cricket that will be required to perform impressively in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. This includes trusting the abilities, skills and experience of the players to perform in a high-pressure global tournament in conditions that are familiar to us, as well as looking at the teams we will play in Group-2 matches.”

  • ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 schedule announced

    ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 schedule announced

    Oman will take on Papua New Guinea in the opening match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground on October 17 while the Super 12 stage commences with a fixture between Australia and South Africa at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

    Read More – Pakistan, India placed in same group in T20 World Cup

    The complete schedule was announced on Tuesday by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which confirms the highly anticipated match between former champions India and Pakistan. It will take place on October 24 at the Dubai International Stadium while Ashes rivals England and Australia play at the same venue six days later.

    The final will be played in Dubai on November 14, with November 15 marked as a reserve day.

    This will be the first time in over two years India and Pakistan will play each other, the last meeting being at the 50-over World Cup in England in 2019.

    Earlier, T20 World Cup moved away from India due to Covid. The ICC has moved the Twenty20 World Cup from India to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman because of the pandemic. India will remain the host of the event scheduled from October 17 to November 14, the ICC said in a statement.

  • T20 World Cup reportedly moved to UAE from India, set to begin on October 17

    T20 World Cup reportedly moved to UAE from India, set to begin on October 17

    The 2021 men’s T20 World Cup will not take place in India anymore. It is set to begin from October 17 in the United Arab Emirates, with the final for the 16-team tournament scheduled for November 14.

    Reportedly, the tournament will start days after the Indian Premier League (IPL) final, which is likely to be held on October 15. The remainder of IPL 2021 will be played in the UAE, starting September 19.

    While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to write to the International Cricket Council (ICC) officially about shifting the T20 World Cup to the UAE, it has already set the ball rolling in terms of planning for the tournament to be held in the middle east.

    As per the current plan, the first round of the T20 World Cup will be split across two groups and played in the UAE and Oman.

    Round 1, which will include 12 matches, will comprise eight teams from which four (top two from each group) would qualify for the Super 12s. Four team from this lot of eight i.e, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea will then progress to the Super 12s, joining the top eight ranked T20I teams. The Super 12s phase, comprising 30 matches, is scheduled to start from October 24. The Super 12s, where teams will be split across two groups of six each, will be played at three venues in the UAE, i.e. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. This will be followed by three playoff games – the two semi-finals and the final.

    With Round 1 being co-hosted by one of the venues in the UAE and Oman, the BCCI is confident that will offer enough time to refresh the pitches across the main grounds in the UAE for the Super 12s.

    On June 1, the ICC granted BCCI until the end of June to give its final word on whether India will be able to host the T20 World Cup. With the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting the global cricket calendar last year, the ICC postponed the 2020 World Cup, originally scheduled to be held in Australia, and decided India would host the tournament in 2021 with Australia hosting the 2022 edition.

    However, the grim pandemic situation in India, which was flattened by a second wave this summer, forced the BCCI to abruptly suspend the IPL at the halfway stage in May.

    That development instantly cast doubts on whether India could be fit to host the multi-team World T20 after travel between cities was identified as a prime area of concern for teams getting exposed to coronavirus outside the bubble during the IPL.

    The BCCI had shortlisted nine venues for the T20 World Cup, but an ICC team, meant to carry out inspection, had to cancel its visit in April. Despite the pandemic numbers climbing down since the alarming peak of April-May period, public health experts have predicted India will face a third wave later in 2021. With the ICC deadline expiring in a few days, the BCCI is expected to make its decision public on moving the event outside to the UAE.

  • Indian govt greenlights visa issuance for Pakistan team for T20 World Cup

    Indian govt greenlights visa issuance for Pakistan team for T20 World Cup

    The Government of India has approved the request to issue visas to the Pakistan cricket team and journalists for the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place from October to November this year.

    According to details, although visas for the Pakistan cricket team have been sorted, it isn’t clear whether fans can travel across the border to watch the matches.

    The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI’s) apex council has been told by Board secretary Jay Shah following “government assurances”.

    Shah informed the council of the same in a video conference meeting held on Friday where it was also decided that the mega-event will be staged across nine venues with Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium hosting the final.

    “The visa issue of Pakistan cricket team has been sorted. However, whether the fans can travel across the border to watch matches is still not clear,” an Apex Council member told the Press Trust of India on conditions of anonymity.

    “It will be decided in due course of time. However, we had promised ICC that it will be sorted.”

    Pakistan and India have not played bilateral cricket for close to a decade now due to political tensions between the two countries.

    Pakistan has been demanding assurances from the ICC that visas will be granted to its players for the 16-team extravaganza, which will complete seven editions this year.

    It must be noted here that the qualifying round for the mega event will take place firstly with teams divided into two groups. Sri Lanka, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, and Oman are placed in Group A whereas Bangladesh, Holland, Namibia, and Scotland will compete in Group B.

    For the main event, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, and two qualifying teams are part of Group 1 whereas India, South Africa, Afghanistan, England, and two qualifying teams are placed in Group 2.

    Two top teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals followed by the mega final, scheduled on November 15.

    The tournament is most likely to be played with COVID-19 protocols being enforced. The Decision regarding the crowd will be taken after monitoring the situation closer to the time.