The fixtures have now been released for the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, with the tournament set to kick off on October 17 with matches to be played in Oman and the UAE. The qualifying event for this 16 team tournament was held in 2019, where Papua New Guinea and Namibia won a place in the tournament for the first time, alongside the Netherlands, Oman, Ireland and Scotland. These teams, as well as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, will fight it out for four places in the Super 12s, where the top 8 teams in the world will await them. It is worth noting that Full Member nation Zimbabwe were unable to compete in the qualifiers as their board was suspended from ICC events at the time. Here’s how the First Round groups have been drawn.
First Round Groups and their Current World T20 Rankings
| Group A | Group B |
| Sri Lanka (current ranking: 8th) | Bangladesh (current ranking: 10th) |
| Ireland (current ranking: 13th) | Scotland (current ranking: 14th) |
| Netherlands (current ranking: 17th) | Papua New Guinea (current ranking: 16th) |
| Namibia (current ranking: 19th) | Oman (current ranking: 18th) |
I will be previewing these teams group by group in the coming weeks, and am as excited about this period of the tournament as it provides a major opportunity for Associate players to show their ever-improving skill-sets as the game becomes more and more professionalised in these nations. Full Members Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who are coming off a 4-1 series victory against Australia, will be stiff opposition, but expect to see plenty of close contests.
Opportunities for smaller cricketing nations can be few and far between, particularly with the difficulties of hosting cricket during the pandemic, but these matches will be worth tuning in for when they begin on October 17. The matches will be played in a round robin format, with UAE to host the Group A and Oman to host Group B.
Super 12s Groups and their Current World T20 Rankings
| Group A | Group B |
| England (current ranking: 1st) | India (current ranking: 2nd) |
| South Africa (current ranking: 5th) | New Zealand (current ranking: 3rd) |
| Australia (current ranking: 6th) | Pakistan (current ranking: 4th) |
| West Indies (current ranking: 9th) | Afghanistan (current ranking: 7th) |
| Qualifier A1 | Qualifier B1 |
| Qualifier B2 | Qualifier A2 |
Once the top four First Round teams have been decided, the Super 12s will begin. They will kick off on October 23 when Australia take on South Africa, with a round-robin format determining the top two teams from each group. The top Group A side will take on the second-placed Group B side, and vice versa, with the winners qualifying into the final. The West Indies are the current World T20 champions, winning an unforgettable final against England in the last edition of the tournament. An interesting aspect of the Super 12s will be the performance of players who decide to compete in the remainder of the Indian Premier League, which is scheduled to resume on September 19 in the UAE. I will also be previewing these groups as the tournament approaches.
After a five year gap between T20 World Cups the excitement in the wide world of cricket is steadily building, with 16 teams coming together to fight it out and determine who will be crowned the T20 champions of the world.
Russ Haylock Sportswriting 