NEWS
Follow UsThe International Cricket Council (ICC) have announced that the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the high-octane India-Pakistan clash on October 23 while defending champions and hosts Australia will kick-start their title defense against Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 22 October in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. 2021 Runners Up New Zealand will also face England at the Gabba on November 1 in a re-match of their epic semi-final encounter at the 2021 event.
While Group 1 has teams like Australia, New Zealand, England, Afghanistan, Group 2 has India, Pakistan, South Africa, and Bangladesh. Both teams will be joined by two qualifying teams who will play in a round-robin format just before the Super 8 phase begins.
"Our planning was ultra-detailed last time. Knowing what the groups look like eight, nine months out is really helpful because it can help your level of detail in that planning phase. It's a tough group though. They're both tough and when you throw in qualifiers like West Indies, Sri Lanka, you've got to play really well to get out of the group stage," Australian captain Aaron Finch said at the MCG on Friday.
The tournament will kick-start with Sri Lanka taking on Namibia at the Kardinia Park, Geelong on October 16. All the Round 1 games will be played in Geelong and Hobart while Perth's Optus Stadium will host its biggest game yet as ICC announce a doubleheader on October 30 with India and South Africa lock horns after the clash between Pakistan and the runners-up from Group A.
“This schedule offers so much, from the 2014 Champions Sri Lanka opening the event to our defending champions Australia starting with a rematch of the 2021 Men’s T20 World Cup Final against New Zealand and of course India taking on Pakistan at the MCG. We know that hundreds of thousands of passionate cricket fans will turn out to support every single one of the 16 teams across all seven of our host cities which is what makes it so special for the players. You only need to cast your mind back to the brilliant ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia to know that this is going to be a wonderful event for players and fans alike," International Cricket Council CEO Geoff Allardice said at the launch event.
The SCG and Adelaide Oval are slated to host the semi-finals on 9 and 10 November respectively while the MCG will host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 Final, like the Women’s event in 2020.