T20 World Cup 2021 schedule announced: India vs Pakistan on Oct 24

Dubai: 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 17 October while the Super 12 stage commences with a fixture between Australia and South Africa at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The complete schedule, announced on Tuesday (August 17) by the International Cricket Council (ICC), confirms the highly anticipated match between former champions India and Pakistan will take place on 24 October at the Dubai International Stadium while Ashes rivals England and Australia play at the same venue six days later.

The West Indies, the only side to win the tournament twice, will also feature on the opening day of the Super 12s as they kick off their defence of the title in Dubai against England, top-ranked in the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings.

Sri Lanka, champion in 2014, and Bangladesh, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands Oman, PNG and Scotland, feature in Round 1 of the 16-team tournament, being hosted by India in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman through to 14 November. The top two teams from each group of Round 1 will make it to the Super 12s.

Abu Dhabi will be the venue of the first semi-final on 10 November while the other semi-final (11 November) and the final (14 November) will be played in Dubai. All day matches are scheduled for 14h00 local time and the day-night matches are slated for 18h00 local time (+4 GMT).

The groupings:

Round 1

Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, the Netherlands and Namibia

Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Oman

(Top two teams from each group advance to Super 12s)

Super 12s

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, A1 and B2

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, A2 and B1

(Top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals)

Complete schedule (All times local +4 GMT)

Round 1

17 Oct: Oman v Papua New Guinea, Muscat (14h00); Bangladesh v Scotland, Muscat (18h00)

18 Oct: Ireland v Netherlands, Abu Dhabi (14h00); Sri Lanka v Namibia, Abu Dhabi (18h00)

19 Oct: Scotland v PNG, Muscat (14h00); Oman v Bangladesh, Muscat (18h00)

20 Oct: Namibia v Netherlands, Abu Dhabi (14h00); Sri Lanka v Ireland, Abu Dhabi (18h00)

21 Oct: Bangladesh v Papua New Guinea, Muscat (14h00); Oman v Scotland, Muscat (18h00)

22 Oct: Namibia v Ireland, Sharjah (14h00); Sri Lanka v Netherlands, Sharjah (18h00)

Super 12s

23 Oct: Australia v South Africa, Abu Dhabi (14h00); England v West Indies, Dubai (18h00)

24 Oct: A1 v B2, Sharjah (14h00); India v Pakistan, Dubai (18h00) (7:30 PM IST)

25 Oct: Afghanistan v B1, Sharjah (18h00)

26 Oct: South Africa v West Indies, Dubai (14h00); Pakistan v New Zealand, Sharjah (18h00)

27 Oct: England v B2, Abu Dhabi (14h00); B1 v A2, Abu Dhabi (18h00)

28 Oct: Australia v A1, Dubai (14h00)

29 Oct: West Indies v B2, Sharjah (14h00); Pakistan v Afghanistan, Dubai (18h00)

30 Oct: South Africa v A1, Sharjah (14h00); Australia v England, Dubai (18h00)

31 Oct: Afghanistan v A2, Abu Dhabi (14h00); India v New Zealand, Dubai (18h00) (7:30 PM IST)

1 Nov: England v A1, Sharjah (18h00)

2 Nov: South Africa v B2, Abu Dhabi (14h00); Pakistan v A2, Abu Dhabi (18h00)

3 Nov: New Zealand v B1, Dubai (14h00); India v Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi (18h00) (7:30 PM IST)

4 Nov: Australia v B2, Dubai (14h00); West Indies v A1, Abu Dhabi (18h00)

5 Nov: New Zealand v A2, Sharjah (14h00); India v B1, Dubai (18h00) (7:30 PM IST)

6 Nov: Australia v West Indies, Abu Dhabi (14h00); England v South Africa, Sharjah (18h00)

7 Nov: New Zealand v Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi (14h00): Pakistan v B1, Sharjah (18h00)

8 Nov: India v A2, Dubai (18h00) (7:30 PM IST)

Knock-out stage

10 Nov: Semi-final 1 (A1 v B2), Abu Dhabi (18h00)

11 Nov: Semi-final 2 (B1 v A2), Dubai (18h00)

14 Nov: Final, Dubai (18h00)

About the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021

The seventh edition of the tournament comprises 16 teams and is being hosted by India in the United Arab Emirates and Oman

The tournament is being played at four venues – Dubai International Stadium, Oman Cricket Academy (Muscat), Sharjah Cricket Stadium and Zayed Cricket Stadium (Abu Dhabi)

Host India and nine other top teams in the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings as of 31 December 2018 received direct entries

The top eight were placed directly in the Super 12s and the next two – Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - joined six other teams coming through a Qualifier event in the group stage

Two teams each from the group stage, consisting of four teams each, will join the eight direct entrants to complete the Super 12s line-up

If Sri Lanka and Bangladesh qualify from the first round, they will retain the seedings of A1 and B1 respectively for the Super 12s

The top two teams from each group of the Super 12s will make the knockouts, the matchups being - A1 v B2 and B2 v A1