For the first time since the 2011 World Cup, India will not meet Pakistan in the group stage of an International Cricket Council (ICC) event. The two teams have faced each other in five ICC tournaments since 2011 — and will meet again in the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales — but cricket’s traditional rivalry will not be on show in the group stages of 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia. This is a result of the present T20I rankings, where Pakistan and India occupy the No. 1 and No. 2 spots respectively, necessitating the two teams to be placed in different groups for the tournament.
England and Australia aren’t guaranteed to meet each other either. While England are placed in Group B alongside India, Australia are in Group A alongside Pakistan. The top-eight teams have automatically qualified for the tournament, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — ninth and tenth in the rankings respectively — will contest six other sides in the qualifying tournament in Geelong and Hobart for the remaining four spots in the Super 12s stage. Pakistan will open the Super 12s against hosts Australia at the SCG on a double-header Saturday on October 24. India will take on South Africa at the new Perth Stadium in the second match of the day. Defending champions West Indies will open their campaign against New Zealand at the MCG the next day.
The SCG and the Adelaide Oval will host the semi-finals on November 11 and 12 respectively, while the final will be held at the MCG on November 15.
Groups
Group A: Pakistan, Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, Qualifier 1, Qualifier 2
Group B: India, England, South Africa, Afghanistan, Qualifier 3, Qualifier 4.
Published in Daily Times, January 30th 2019.