Team India WT20 Schedule: As the Indian fans are still coming afresh from the celebrations for the historic victory last night against England, ICC announced the World T20 fixture. The tournament which was slated to happen in 2020 was postponed indefinitely because of the pandemic.
However, with a year of cricket being held smoothly and the opening edition of the World Test Championship meeting its desired conclusion, ICC decided to go forward with its World T20 schedule and after a long wait, it is finally out.
With the groups already declared that saw India belonging to the same clique with their arch-rivals, Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan, the fans were eager to lay their hands on the fixtures.
The tournament will be beginning on 18th October with round 1 Group B fixtures between Oman and Papua New Guinea. The second game of the opening day will be convened between Bangladesh and Scotland.
The opening round will come to an end on 22nd October where the top two teams will be qualifying for the Round of 12 that will introduce the heavyweights of the fray.
In this story, we will take a quick look at India’s fixtures in the Round of 12 in the glamorous T20 World Cup, 2021.
Team India will be eager to do some redemption as they arrive at UAE after failed attempts at claiming the T20 World Cup after 2007.
India vs Pakistan – 24th October 2021, Dubai, 7:30 PM IST
The two arch-rivals will be colliding once again in the T20 World Cup that will split the world into two factions, beholding a mighty spectacle of cricket. The last time India clashed with Pakistan in the 2019 Cricket World Cup saw India running riots against Pakistan as they sealed a comprehensive victory. The opening edition of the tournament saw India squaring off with their neighbours twice to emerge victorious via bowl-out and clinch a thriller in the final to become the World Champions.
India vs New Zealand – 31st October 2021, Dubai, 7:30 PM IST
India will have one entire week between their opening and second fixture as they will be colliding with New Zealand in Dubai. The last time these two teams met, India inflicted a whitewash upon the counterparts in the latter’s backyard. Since then a lot of the dynamics have changed with the pandemic playing spoilsport, India thumping Australia in a T20 series, India thumping England in another T20 series, Indians losing out to Sri Lanka in a bilateral affair and then a couple of IPL getting their denouements.
India vs Afghanistan – 3rd November 2021, Abu Dhabi, 7:30 PM IST
This will be an exciting clash between the two teams Afghanistan boasts of one of the best T20 leg-spinners in their ranks and India will most likely use this match to test their bench strength in the marathon tournament. Despite India being a juggernaut, their last two outings wouldn’t really inspire hopes for the Indian contingent. Their bout in the Asia Cup 2018 saw the match ending in a tie which is a historic result for the Afghans while the following match which is India’s latest encounter with the aforementioned counterparts saw India barely scraping through with some last-minute heroics.
India vs B1 – 5th November 2021, Dubai, 7:30 PM IST
The top team of Group B in the opening round will have to collide with team India for their fifth fixture of the tournament. The teams in Group B include Ireland, Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Namibia. Going by the history of the recent matches, Sri Lanka will be the likeliest group topper.
India vs A2 – 8th November 2021, Dubai, 7:30 PM IST
Group A of the opening round comprises Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and hosts, Oman. Bangladesh’s recent form and triumph over Australia alludes to the fact that they are the strong contenders to finish in the top spot. The likeliest contender for the second spot can be Scotland as they feature the big names of Kyle Coetzer, Craig Wallace and Calum McLeod.
