The two national teams will meet again during the Super 12 round of the tournament at the iconic MCG on October 23, with the ICC confirming the groups and the schedule on January 21.
India, Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh are part of Group 2 of the Super 12 round, where hosts Australia, England, New Zealand and Afghanistan make-up Group 1. These eight teams will be joined in their respective groups by the qualifiers from the preliminary round.
In the preliminary round, Sri Lanka, Namibia and two yet-to-be-determined teams from the global qualifier will form Group A and West Indies, Scotland and two other qualifying sides will combine to form Group B.
As per the seedings announced by the ICC, the winner of Group A and the runners-up of Group B will join teams placed in Group 1, while the winner of Group B and the runners-up of Group A will be going through to Group 2 of the Super 12 stage.
The top two teams from respective Super 12 groups will enter the semi-finals scheduled to be held in Sydney and Adelaide on November 9 and 10, respectively, before their winners contest the tournament final at MCG on November 13.
The T20 World Cup begins on October 16 with the preliminary round fixtures, while the Super 12 round kicks off on October 22 with the repeat of the 2021 edition’s final between hosts Australia and their Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand.
Geelong and Hobart will be hosting the preliminary round fixtures. Group A will have all its matches played at the Kardinia Park Stadium, and Group B matches will be held at the Bellerive Oval. Hobart will also play host to three Super 12 fixtures.
The remainder of the competition will be hosted entirely by the five main Test grounds in Australia, situated in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane.
India, the inaugural T20 World Cup champions, will have the chance to make amends for their disappointing Super 12 exit at the tournament’s last year edition in the United Arabic Emirates. After facing Pakistan with an eye to avenge their previous year’s defeat, they take on the Group A runners-up in Sydney on October 27.
The Asian giants then face South Africa and Bangladesh in their following two matches on October 30 and November 2 in Perth and Adelaide, respectively. They round-off the Super 12 with a game against Group B winners at MCG on November 6.
Australia lights up with the ICC Men's T20 World Cup fixture announcement 🎆 pic.twitter.com/hkiMcOKw2H
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) January 21, 2022
The preliminary and Super 12 groups for the T20 World Cup 2022 were decided through the tournament standings at the last year’s edition as well as the T20I rankings.
According to the qualifying rules set by ICC, finalists of the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup and the next six best ranked T20I sides made it through to the Super 12 of this year’s T20 World Cup directly, while the bottom four sides have to play the preliminary round.
The focus on rankings meant that West Indies and Sri Lanka are made to play the preliminary round despite both of them defeating Bangladesh in the Super 12 stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup.
As part of the qualification criteria, teams that made the Super 12 stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup earned a direct ticket to the 2022 T20 World Cup, which meant that Scotland and Namibia avoided the global qualifiers and are part of the respective preliminary groups.
This will be the eighth edition of the T20 World Cup since the tournament’s first iteration back in 2007 in South Africa.
