World T20: India to face England, Australia in warm-up games
The Indian cricket team will be facing England and Australia in warm-up matches prior to the ICC T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan. India will face Eoin Morgan-led England on October 18 and Aaron Finch-led Australia on October 20. Notably, India and Pakistan will face each other in their opening group match on October 24. Here are the details.
Key details about the Round 1 starting from October 17
Round 1 of the ICC T20 World Cup will include 12 matches. This will comprise eight teams from which four (top two from each group) would qualify for the Super 12s. Four teams out of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman, and Papua New Guinea will then progress to the Super 12s. They will then join the top eight ranked T20I teams.
Key details about the Super 12s
Meanwhile, the Super 12s phase will comprise of 30 matches. This is scheduled to begin from October 23 onwards. The Super 12s will see teams being split across two groups of six each. The matches will be played at three venues - Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah in the UAE. The two semi-finals and the final will follow the Super 12s.
India's T20 World Cup squad was announced this month
Earlier this month, the BCCI announced India's squad for the T20 World Cup. Off-spinner R Ashwin was a surprise inclusion. The senior player last played a T20 International in July 2017, against the West Indies. Yuzvendra Chahal was dropped in favor of mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. The exclusion of senior opener Shikhar Dhawan was another surprise. India opted for a spin-heavy side.
Here's a look at Team India's schedule
India will open their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on October 24. The Kohli-led side will then take on New Zealand on October 31 (Dubai), Afghanistan on November 3 (Abu Dhabi), the first-placed Round 1 qualifier from Group B on November 5 (Dubai), and the second-placed Round 1 qualifier from Group A on November 8 (Dubai).
ICC T20 World Cup: A look at Team India's squad
India's squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami. Standby players: Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.
