World T20 2016: India and Pakistan in same group

New Zealand and Australia are the other two teams in India's group.

58 men’s and women’s matches to be played at eight venues from March 8 to April 3.

Mumbai and New Delhi to stage semi-finals; Kolkata to stage finals.

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan are drawn in same group for the ICC World Twenty20 2016.

The two teams will face off on March 19, in Dharamsala.

The International Cricket Council on Friday announced the groups and fixtures for the World T20 tournament, which runs from March 11 to April 3 in India across eight venues.

New Zealand and Australia, the other two teams in India's group, will clash with the hosts on March 15 in Nagpur and on March 27 in Mohali respectively.

The Group A winner from the Qualifiers will play India on March 23 in Bangalore.

Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, England and the Group B winner from the Qualifiers will constitute the other group.

The semi-finals will be staged in Delhi and Mumbai on March 30 and March 31 respectively.

The finals will be at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, on April 3. April 4 is a reserve day for the finals.

"It's a privilege that BCCI is hosting the World T20 event for the first time. I am sure this event will be a great success," ICC chairman and Board of Control for Cricket in India president Shashank Manohar said.

“India is a country where cricket is a religion and not many places can match the passion for the game like India.

"I am fully confident that the Board of Control for Cricket in India will deliver an outstanding world cricket event, just like the ICC Cricket World Cups in 1987, 1996 and 2011,” he added.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “The ICC World Twenty20 is an event which puts the world’s best cricketers in the shortest format of the game against each other in a nation versus nation contest.

“The Twenty20 format provides the perfect vehicle by which the ICC can further globalise the game, providing international exposure and opportunity to our top Associate and Affiliate members. The ICC World Twenty20 event structure is designed to provide highly competitive matches throughout, with eight evenly-matched sides fighting it out in the first round and the best two then getting in the mix with the top eight ranked teams in the Super 10 stage where the intensity and competition will be of the very highest level.”

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said, “We, as hosts, are fully prepared to organise one of the most entertaining spectacles in world cricket. We draw experience from hosting three ICC Cricket World Cups and are ready to make the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 one of the most memorable events.

“Our preparations are in full swing, and BCCI and ICC is working together to make it a lifetime experience for the players and the fans. India is a vibrant country – young, full of colour, energy and exuberance - and is very much like the concept of Twenty20 cricket itself. We would encourage everyone involved with the game to experience the best of India."

Previous World T20 champions

2007 - India beat Pakistan by 5 runs in the final

2009 - Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the final

2010 - England beat Australia by 7 wickets in the final

2012 - West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 36 runs in the final

2014 - Sri Lanka beat India by 6 wickets in the final

The full schedule:

Men's:

First round (group winners to progress to second round).

Group A: Bangladesh, Netherlands, Ireland and Oman.

Group B: Zimbabwe, Scotland, Hong Kong and Afghanistan.

Second round groups:

Super 10 Group 1: Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, England and winner of Group B (Qualifier 1B).

Super 10 Group 2: India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and winner of Group A (Qualifier 1A).

Women's:

Group A: Australia (A1), South Africa (A2), New Zealand (A3), Sri Lanka (A4) and Ireland (A5).

Group B: England (B1), West Indies (B2), India (B3), Pakistan (B4) and Bangladesh (B5).

Schedule:

(‘M’ denotes men’s match; ‘W’ denotes women’s match; PM means afternoon match and Eve. means night match. Match timings to be confirmed in due course)

Tuesday, Mar 8: Zimbabwe vs Hong Kong (PM), Nagpur; Scotland vs Afghanistan (Eve.), Nagpur.

Wednesday, Mar 9: Bangladesh vs Netherlands (PM), Dharamsala; Ireland vs Oman (Eve.), Dharamsala.

Thursday, Mar 10: Scotland vs Zimbabwe (PM), Nagpur; Hong Kong vs Afghanistan (Eve.), Nagpur.

Friday, Mar 11: Netherlands vs Oman (PM), Dharamsala; Bangladesh vs Ireland (Eve.), Dharamsala.

Saturday, Mar 12: Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan (PM), Nagpur; Scotland vs Hong Kong (Eve.), Nagpur.

Sunday, Mar 13: Netherlands vs Ireland (PM), Dharamsala; Bangladesh vs Oman (Eve.), Dharamsala.

Tuesday, Mar 15: India vs Bangladesh (W) (PM), Bengaluru; New Zealand vs Sri Lanka (W) (Eve.), New Delhi; New Zealand vs India (M) (Eve), Nagpur.

Wednesday, Mar 16: West Indies vs England (M) (PM), Mumbai; Pakistan vs Q1A (M) (Eve.), Kolkata; West Indies vs Pakistan (W) (Eve.), Chennai.

Thursday: Mar 17: England vs Bangladesh (W) (PM), Bengaluru; Sri Lanka vs Q1B (M) (Eve.), Kolkata.

Friday, Mar 18: New Zealand vs Ireland (W) (PM), Mohali; Australia vs New Zealand (M) (PM), Dharamsala; South Africa vs England (M) (Eve.), Mumbai; Australia vs South Africa (W) (Eve.), Nagpur.

Saturday, Mar 19: India vs Pakistan (W) (PM), New Delhi; India vs Pakistan (M) (Eve.), Dharamsala.

Sunday, Mar 20: South Africa vs Q1B (M) (PM), Mumbai; West Indies vs Bangladesh (W) (PM), Chennai; Sri Lanka vs Ireland (W) (Eve.), Mohali; Sri Lanka vs West Indies (M) (Eve.), Bengaluru.

Monday, Mar 21: Australia vs New Zealand (W) (PM), Nagpur; Australia vs Q1A (M) (Eve.), Bengaluru.

Tuesday, Mar 22: England vs India (W) (PM), Dharamsala; New Zealand vs Pakistan (M) (Eve.), Mohali.

Wednesday, Mar 23: England vs Q1B (M) (PM), New Delhi; India vs Q1A (M), (Eve.), Bengaluru; South Africa v Ireland (W) (Eve.), Chennai.

Thursday, Mar 24: England vs West Indies (W) (Eve.), Dharamsala; Australia vs Sri Lanka (W) (PM), New Delhi; Pakistan vs Bangladesh (W) (Eve.), New Delhi.

Friday, Mar 25: Pakistan vs Australia (M) (PM), Mohali; South Africa vs West Indies (M), (Eve.), Nagpur.

Saturday, Mar 26: Australia vs Ireland (W) (PM), New Delhi; Q1A vs New Zealand (M) (PM), Kolkata; England vs Sri Lanka (M) (Eve.), New Delhi; South Africa vs New Zealand (W) (Eve.), Bengaluru.

Sunday, Mar 27: West Indies vs India (W) (PM), Mohali; India vs Australia (M) (Eve.), Mohali; England vs Pakistan (W) (Eve.), Chennai; Q1B vs West Indies (M) (PM), Nagpur.

Monday, Mar 28: South Africa vs Sri Lanka (W) (PM), Bengaluru; South Africa vs Sri Lanka (M) (Eve.), New Delhi.

Tuesday, Mar 29: Rest/Travel day.

Wed, Mar 30:

Women's semi-final: (2nd group A vs 1st group B) (PM), New Delhi.

Men's semi-final: (Super 10 Group 1 2nd vs Super 10 Group 2 1st) (Eve.), New Delhi.

Thursday, Mar 31:

Women's semi-final: (1st group A vs 2nd group B) (PM), Mumbai

Men's semi-final: (Super 10 Group 1 2nd v Super 10 Group 2 1st) (Eve.), Mumbai.

Friday, Apr 1: Rest/Travel day

Saturday, Apr 2: Rest/Travel day

Sunday, Apr 3:

Women's final (PM), Kolkata

Men's final (Eve.), Kolkata.