The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the schedule for the much-awaited T20 World Cup in 2021. The international tournament will commence on October 17 with finals scheduled to take place on November 14.
The T20 World Cup 2021 qualifier round will begin on October 17 and end on October 22. Furthermore, the Super 12 round will begin the next day, on October 23 and will end on November
8.
Likewise, on November 10, the knockout phase of the T20 World Cup 2021 will commence. The first semi-finals will take place in Abu Dhabi, with the second semi-final taking place in Dubai
on November 11th. There are also reserve days in both semi-finals.
The T20 World Cup event was initially set to begin in 2020. It was, however, put on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, India was poised to host the tournament. However,
India's current covid-19 situation makes it difficult to host major tournaments such as the T20 World Cup.
Instead of India, it will be held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, with four venues: Muscat, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah. The event's hosting rights, however, will remain
with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Also Read: Shardul Thakur replaces Axar Patel in India's World Cup squad
Team India all set for the major event
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced that right-arm pacer Shardul Thakur and left-arm spin all-rounder Axar Patel will swap places in India's squad
for the men's T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman.
It means that Thakur moves into Patel's place in the main squad while Patel takes Thakur's place in the stand-by players' list.
"The All-India Senior Selection Committee after a discussion with the team management has added Shardul Thakur to the main squad. All-rounder Axar Patel, who was part of the 15-member
squad will now be on the list of stand-by players," said a release from the BCCI.
The BCCI also announced that Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel, Lukman Meriwala, Venkatesh Iyer, Karn Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed and K. Gowtham will join the Indian team bubble in Dubai
and assist the side in their preparation ahead of the men's T20 World Cup.
India will start its Super 12 campaign against Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai. India is in Group 2 alongside Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan and two teams joining from Round 1.
India's squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar,
Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami.
Stand-by players: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Axar Patel.