LAHORE: Traditional rivals Pakistan and India have been drawn in the same group of this year’s T20 World Cup to be hosted by the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) in United Arab Emirates and Oman from October 17 to November 14. The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the groups of the tournament on Friday. This will be the first multi-team, global event organised by the ICC since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic early last year. The ICC did not unveil the schedule for the 16-team tournament, which is expected to be finalised shortly. The groups have been selected on the basis of team rankings as of March 20, 2021. Pakistan and India will be joined in Group II of the Super 12s (second round) by World Test champions New Zealand and Afghanistan as well as two qualifiers from round one. Defending champions West Indies are with former winners England, whom they beat in the last final in 2016, in Group 1. They are joined by Australia and South Africa as well as two more qualifiers. Test nations Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Ireland must come through round one to reach the Super 12s but another Test team Zimbabwe will be absent. Non-Test playing nations Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Oman will also have a chance of making it through to the Super 12s. “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,” said ICC acting chief executive Geoff Allardice in a statement yesterday. The tournament was originally meant to take place in Australia at the end of 2020 but it was called off as the pandemic swept across the globe causing wide scale lockdowns. It was switched to India for 2021 but the country is emerging from a Covid-19 surge in April and May and experts fear a new wave of cases later this year. The BCCI remains the ‘host’ but the competition will now be held across four venues ––– Dubai International Stadium, Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah Stadium, and Oman Cricket Academy Ground. The ICC had named the UAE as the back-up venue for the tournament in 2020 itself. Recently, it decided to add Oman as a venue keeping in mind the volume of cricket that the UAE ––– especially Abu Dhabi ––– has hosted since the pandemic began. The UAE will also host the remainder of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) from September 19 until mid-October. The ICC felt having Oman as an additional venue would help keep the main grounds in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah fresh for the Super 12s stage. “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,” said BCCI secretary Jay Shah. “Having said that, the exciting T20 format is known for its surprises, and we must be prepared for the same. I am sure we will witness some exciting and nail-biting games.” BCCI President Sourav 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.” Groups Round 1 Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Oman Super 12s Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, A1, B2 Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, A2, B1