T20 World Cup 2021 set to begin in October in UAE: Report
The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 is set to being from October 17 in the UAE while the final for the 16-team tournament is scheduled for November 14, a report stated.
As per the report, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 will start days after the IPL final 2021, which is likely to be held on October 15. The remainder of IPL 2021 is scheduled to be played in the UAE, starting September 19.
Also Read | Kiren Rijiju launches official Theme Song for Indian Olympic Team to Tokyo 2020
The report, however, stated that BCCI was yet to write to the ICC officially about shifting ICC T20 World Cup 2021 to the UAE. The board has already set the ball rolling in terms of planning for the tournament.
Also Read | Tokyo Olympics 2020: Manpreet Singh to lead Indian Men’s Hockey team
Reportedly, the first round of the World Cup will be split across two groups which would be played in the UAE and Oman.
Round 1 will include 12 matches and it will comprise eight teams from which four (top two from each group) would qualify for Super 12s. Four teams from this lot of eight - Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea - will progress to the Super 12s, joining the top 8 ranked T20I teams.
The Super 12s phase would see 30 matches which are scheduled to start from October 24. The teams will be split across two groups of six each in Super 12s. The matches would be played at three venues in the UAE - Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah, followed by three playoff games - the two semi-finals and the final.
In view of the coronavirus pandemic, the ICC had postponed the 2020 World Cup, which was scheduled to be held in Australia. ICC, then, decided that India would host the tournament in 2021 while Australia would host the 2022 edition.
With the ICC deadline expiring in few days, BCCI is likely to make its decision public on moving the event to the UAE.
-PTC News
