ICC T20 World Cup 2021: Teams, Format, Schedule, Rules, Venues, Timings, Prize Money

Dubai, October 17: The International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup 2021 has kicked off from Sunday (October 17) with the qualifiers between eight teams in Oman.

After the first round, the showpiece event will begin with the Super 12 in which top-12 teams, divided into two halves, will face each other for the coveted trophy.

After a gap of four years, the multi-nation tournament is being held. The ICC T20 World Cup was held in 2016 in India when the West Indies defeated England in the final at Eden Gardens.

The tournament that was scheduled to be held in Australia in 2020 had to be postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that brought the entire world to a grinding halt.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also had to shift the showpiece event from India to the Gulf due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases back home.

Here's all you need to know about the tournament:

Format:

The tournament has been divided into two rounds.

Round 1:

Eight teams will lock horns in round one. The eight teams have been split into two groups. The top two teams from both groups will qualify for the Super 12 stage, starting October 23.

Teams in round 1:

Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands, Oman, Namibia, Scotland and Papua New Guinea.

Group A: Namibia, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Ireland

Group B: Oman Papua New Guinea, Scotland and Bangladesh

Round 2:

In the Super-12 stage - which will be the main event - the 12 teams have also been divided into two groups 1 and 2. Here the groups have been divided into six teams each, where they'll face each other in the round-robin format. The Super 12 stage will conclude on November 8.

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, A1, B2

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, B1, A2

India's campaign:

Team India will begin their campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 24. They will next take on New Zealand on October 31. India's third match of the tournament, Team India will take on Afghanistan. In their fourth game of the Super 12 stage, Virat Kohli's men will take on on the first-placed Round 1 qualifier from Group A. In their final round-robin game, India will face the second-placed Round 1 qualifier from Group A.

Semifinals

The first semifinal will be held in Abu Dhabi on 10 November at 7:30 PM (IST). The second semifinal will be hosted by Dubai on 11 November. Both semifinals have reserve days.

Final

The marquee clash of the tournament will be held in Dubai at 7:30 PM (IST) on November 14 (Sunday), while Monday (November 15) will act as the reserve day for the final.

Venues

For qualifiers, the matches will be held at Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Al Amarat (Oman) and Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The Super-12 stage will be held in the UAE, across three venues-- Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai.

DRS Debut

The Decision Review System (DRS) will be making its debut in the competition where every team will get two unsuccessful reviews per match.

Fans return

The fans will be allowed at the stadium but there are limited seats due to COVID-19 restrictions. The stadiums will be operating at 70 per cent capacity in the UAE.

Prize money

The winner of the tournament will receive prize money of $1.6 million, while the runners-up will get a cash reward of $8,00,000. The two losing semifinalists will receive $4,00,000 each.

Timings:

All the matches will begin at 3:30 PM and 7:30 PM (IST).