The Indian Express : Jan 29, 2019, 11:31 AM
India will begin their campaign for the ICC T20 World Cup on October 24, 2020 against South Africa in Perth. India will then go on to play a qualifier at MCG in Melbourne. It will be followed by facing England at the same venue before their final two fixtures of the Super 12s against another qualifier and Afghanistan at Adelaide and SCG, Sydney respectively. The tournament, with Windies as defending champions, gets underway on October 18. It will be for the first time that men’s and women’s tournaments will be held as standalone in the same country and in the same year.ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 will be the second of the two editions and will take place from October 18 to November 15, 2020. Hosts Australia will play the opening match of the Super 12 stage of the tournament on October 24 under lights at the SCG in a blockbuster match-up against the top ranked Pakistan.The first men’s semi-final will take place at the SCG on November 11, with Adelaide Oval hosting the second semi-final the following night. Like the women’s final, the men’s final will be played at the MCG, on the evening of November 15, 2020.Men’s defending champions, the Windies, will start their title defence when they face New Zealand on October 25 at the MCG. They will then face Australia on October 28, a qualifier on October 30, Pakistan on November 3 and another qualifier on November 7.Having finished ninth and tenth in the ICC World T20I Team Rankings, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are the two known qualifiers in the First Round of the men’s event, with matches to be played in Geelong and Hobart from October 18-23. The remaining six teams for the first round will be determined via a qualifying tournament to be held in 2019. A total of four teams from the first round, two each from Group A and Group B will progress to the Super 12 stage.ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 will take place from February 21 – March 8, 2020, culminating in the final at the MCG on International Women’s Day. A spectacular opening ceremony will mark the start of the tournament, when hosts and defending champions Australia take on India at Sydney Showground Stadium on February 21, 2020. The women’s tournament will also feature double-header semi-finals at the iconic SCG on March 5, 2020.India women, who were knocked out in the semifinals of the tournament in 2008, will get their attempt of winning a first T20 World Cup underway against Australia at the Spotless Stadium in Sydney on February 21, 2020. It will be followed by a game against a qualifier on February 26 at WACA, Perth; against New Zealand on February 27 and Sri Lanka on February 29 at Junction Oval, Melbourne.The eight top-ranked teams based on finishing positions from the World T20 in the West Indies have automatically qualified, with the remaining two places to be determined through a qualifying tournament to be held in 2019.