- Even though they are placed in a tough group featuring Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and a yet-to-be-decided qualifier, India are expected to make the semi-finals given the stupendous form the team is in coupled with the distinct home advantage.
Their build-up campaign has been nothing short of spectacular and 2007 winners India start as the firm favourites to be the first two-time World champions in the shortest format when the ICC World Twenty20 gets underway with the qualifiers, in Nagpur, on Tuesday.
- Check out the World T20 schedule
The tournament-proper will begin March 15 when hosts India take on New Zealand and the qualifiers which will be played this week will fill in two slots for the Super 10 stage.
The opening day double-header in qualifiers features games between Zimbabwe and Hong Kong besides a Scotland vs Afghanistan clash with both games to be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur. The other teams in the qualifying round are Ireland and the Netherlands.
The top two teams from the qualifiers will join India, Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies in the Super 10 stage, which will be played alongside the women's event from March 15-28.
Although Sri Lanka are the defending men's champions, they hardly seem to be an intimidating force having endured a 1-2 loss to India last month, while they managed just one victory in four games in the recently-concluded Asia Cup tournament. Their sole win came against minnows UAE, while they were beaten by Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
On the contrary, 2007 champions India are looking like an unstoppable force which will be further galvanised by the passionate support from its adoring home fans.
The Asia Cup triumph, during which Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men did not lose a single match, is the latest confidence-booster that the Indians received heading into the big event following convincing victories over Australia and Sri Lanka in the run-up. They whitewashed Australia 3-0 in their own backyard before outclassing Sri Lanka 2-1 followed by the Asia Cup triumph.
India are in Super 10 Group 2 along with 2009 winners Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and a yet-to-be-decided qualifier.
The hosts launch their campaign in Nagpur against New Zealand on March 15 before they clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in a high-voltage clash in Dharamsala on March 19. Their next match will be against a qualifier in Bengaluru on March 13 before rounding off their league engagements against Australia in Mohali on March 27.
Even though they are placed in a tough group, India are expected to make the semi-finals given the stupendous form the team is in coupled with the distinct home advantage.
Sri Lanka have been placed in Super 10 Group 1 along with South Africa, West Indies, England and a yet-to-be-decided qualifier. Their will open their title defence against the qualifier in Kolkata on March 17, and play West Indies in Bengaluru on March 20, England on March 26 and South Africa on March 28.
Pakistan, who won the World T20 in 2009, will open their campaign against a qualifier in Kolkata on March 16. After the marquee clash against India, Pakistan will play their remaining two matches against New Zealand and Australia on March 22 and 25, respectively.
England, who won the 2010 tournament in the West Indies, will take on 2012 champions West Indies on March 16, followed by matches against South Africa on March 18 followed by a clash against a qualifier on March 23 and against Sri Lanka on March 26.
After taking on England in their tournament-opener, the West Indies will square off against Sri Lanka (March 20), South Africa (March 25) and qualifier (March 27).
South Africa are also another team to watch out for, especially considering that they had outclassed hosts India 2-0 in the T20I series in October with the last match washed out. They blanked England 2-0 last month and are locked 1-1 in the ongoing three-match series against Australia.
Also not to forget Australia, who have finally begun to warm up to the format and would be eyeing their maiden T20 World title.
In the men's event, eight sides in two groups of four, will feature in the first round matches with the group winners joining eight sides in the Super 10 stage (two groups of five teams).
The top two sides from both the Super 10 Groups will qualify for the semi-finals.
In the women's event, the 10 sides will be divided into two groups and the top two sides from each group will progress to the semi-finals.
The first round matches in the men's event will take place in Dharamsala and Nagpur from March 8 to 13 and will feature two groups. Group A of the qualifiers comprises Bangladesh, Netherlands, Ireland, debutant Oman, while Group B features Zimbabwe, Scotland, Hong Kong and Afghanistan.
The men's event will carry a total prize money of US$ 5.6 million, which is an 86 per cent increase from the 2014 tournament, while the total prize money for the women's event is US$ 400,000, which is a 122 per cent increase from the Bangladesh event.
A total of 58 tournament matches, including 35 men's matches and 23 women's matches, will be played in the 27-day tournament in Bengaluru, Chennai, Dharamsala, Kolkata, Mohali, Mumbai, Nagpur and New Delhi.
New Delhi and Mumbai will host the semi-finals on March 30 and 31, respectively, while Kolkata will be the venue of the final on April 3. The women's semi-finals and final will be followed by the men's knockout matches. There is a reserve day for the final.
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 Qualifier (1B)
Super 10 Group 2 – India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and Qualifer (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).
