The upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 is all set to begin from October 17 in the UAE and the final is scheduled to take place on November 14. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in India but the current Covid-19 situation forced the International Cricket Council (ICC) to look beyond India as potential hosts.
In the reports published on ESPNCricinfo, the tournament’s dates have been finalized by the global body. However, BCCI is yet to write to the ICC officially about shifting the T20 World Cup to the UAE. But it looks the inevitable has already been decided by ICC.
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As per the current plans, round 1 of the tournament will take place in the UAE and Oman. In this round, eight teams will be divided into two groups of four each. The top two teams from each group will proceed to the next round. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman and Papua New Guinea are those eight teams.
The top four teams will then be mixed with the top eight teams from the rankings and will be divided into two groups of six teams each. This round will be called Super 12s where 30 matches will be played.
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The Super 12s games are to be played across three venues in the UAE – Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. This will be followed by three playoff games – two semi-finals and the final.
Interestingly, the second phase of the IPL 2021 is scheduled to take place in the UAE as well and the final of this season is likely to be played on October 15.
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.
