T20 World Cup 2021: India to face Pakistan on October 24, here's all we know about schedule of marquee clash

New Delhi, Aug 4: Arch-rivals India and Pakistan have been pitted in the same group of the T20 World Cup 2021 and the marquee clash of the tournament will be held on October 24, which is a Sunday.

Although, ICC is yet to release an official schedule of the tournament in a few days the reports are doing the rounds for the biggest clash of the super 12 in the multi-nation event which will be held in the UAE and Oman.

It has been learnt that the ICC normally keeps two to three sets of schedule before zeroing in on the final one. But, it is a given that with the kind of traction an Indo-Pak rivalry generates, the match will have to be held on a weekend.

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"As of now, Sunday, October 24 looks the likely option as the first week's Qualifying round matches starting October 17 will be held in Muscat, Oman," a source privy to developments in the ICC was quoted by PTI on conditions of anonymity.

"So when the main round robin fixtures are played, it is better to start with an Indo-Pak game which will have the best TRP."

In super 12, defending champions West Indies, England, Australia, South Africa and two qualifiers from Round 1 will be part of Group 1. Group 2 will comprise India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan and the other two qualifiers from Round 1.

Eight teams will contest the first round including automatic qualifiers Sri Lanka and Bangladesh with the remaining six who booked their spot through the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019.

Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia join Sri Lanka in Group A, whilst Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland will face Bangladesh in Group B.

Earlier last month, ICC Acting Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said: "We are delighted to announce the groups for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021. There are some great match-ups offered by the groups and it starts to bring the event to life for our fans as our first multi-team event since the onset of the global pandemic draws closer.

"Given the disruption caused by COVID-19, we selected the cut-off date as close as possible to the event to ensure we were able to include the maximum amount of cricket in the rankings which determine the groups. There is no doubt we will witness some highly competitive cricket when the event gets underway in just three months."