T20 World Cup shifted from India to UAE

The 2021 men's T20 World Cup has been shifted from India to the UAE is likely to start from October 17, with the final for the 16-team tournament scheduled for November 14.

According to the cricket website ESPNcricinfo, the tournament will start days after the IPL final, which is likely to be held on October 15. The remainder of IPL 2021 will be played in the UAE, starting September 19.

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As per the current plan, the first round of the T20 World Cup will be split across two groups and played in the UAE and Oman.

Round 1, which will include 12 matches, will comprise eight teams from which four (top two from each group) would qualify for the Super 12s. Four teams from this lot of eight - Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea - will then progress to the Super 12s, joining the top eight ranked T20I teams.

The Super 12s phase, comprising 30 matches, is scheduled to start from October 24. The Super 12s, where teams will be split across two groups of six each, will be played at three venues in the UAE - Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. This will be followed by three playoff games - the two semi-finals and the final.

With Round 1 being co-hosted by one of the venues in the UAE and Oman, the BCCI is confident that will offer enough time to refresh the pitches across the main grounds in the UAE for the Super 12s.

On June 1, the ICC granted BCCI until 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.

However, the grim pandemic situation in India, which was flattened by a second wave this summer, forced the BCCI to abruptly suspend the IPL at the halfway stage in May.