India and Pakistan are in the same group for this year’s Men’s Twenty20 World Cup and will meet in a marquee match in New York, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed on Friday.
The match will take place on June 9, as the Guardian first announced. England and Australia also clashed when the tournament schedule was announced, which will take place from June 1 to 29 in the Caribbean and the United States. The India vs Pakistan match will be played in a 34,000-seat modular stadium that will host eight matches.
England will begin their trophy defense with an all-British duel against Scotland. The Group B match will take place on June 4 in Barbados. The defending champion remains in Barbados to face Australia on June 8 before traveling to Antigua to face Oman (June 13) and Namibia (June 15). Scotland will face Namibia in Barbados on June 6, before facing Oman in Antigua (June 9) and Australia in Saint Lucia (June 15). Ireland were placed in Group A alongside India, Pakistan, Canada and the United States, with two games in New York and two in Florida.
A record 20 teams were divided into four groups of 55 matches played in the month-long tournament, with the top two from each group qualifying for the round of the Super Eight. “The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup marks an exciting expansion of our sport with more teams than ever taking part in this event,” said ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice. “It will be an incredible show that will bring together 20 international teams from Africa, America, Asia, East Asia-Pacific and Europe.”
Meanwhile, England batsman Joe Root and all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt have been shortlisted for two more ICC Awards. Root was nominated for the ICC Cricketer of the year alongside India’s Ravi Ashwin and Australian couple Travis Head and Usman Khawaja. The Yorkshire man, 33, scored 787 runs in the Format last year, scoring two centuries alongside five half-centuries. He recorded a high score of 153 in February, which was not eliminated by New Zealand, and was part of the England team that went down from 2-0 down over the summer to pull the Ashes.
Sciver-Brunt has been nominated for the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for ICC women’s cricketer of the year after being shortlisted for ICC women’s ODI cricketer of the year. The all-rounder is actioning with Sri Lankan Chamari Athapaththu and Australians Ashleigh Gardner and challenge Mooney for the highest award.
