T20 World Cup: England grouped with Australia, reigning champions West Indies and South Africa

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The groups have been revised based on the ICC rankings as of March 20, and Eoin Morgan’s team will consider their new Group 1 opponents a bit tougher than the originals; Watch the first international T20 match between England and Pakistan, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 6pm on Friday

England have teamed up with rivals Australia in this year’s T20 World Cup

England have teamed up with rivals Australia, reigning champions from the West Indies and South Africa at this year’s Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, with India and Pakistan also set to meet in the Super 12 stage.

The groups have been revised based on the International Cricket Council rankings as of March 20, and Eoin Morgan’s team will consider their new Group 1 opponents a bit tougher than the originals: India, South Africa and Afghanistan.

In addition to the first game between India and Pakistan since 2019, Group 2 includes New Zealand and Afghanistan.

Both groups will be completed with two qualifiers from the first round, played by Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, Namibia, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh and the host Oman.

ICC Acting Executive Director Geoff Allardice said: “We are delighted to announce the groups for the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. There are some great match-ups offered by the groups and it begins to bring the event to life for our fans as our first multiple event -Team event since the start of the global pandemic is approaching.

“Given the disruption caused by COVID-19, we selected the deadline as close to the event as possible to ensure we can include the maximum amount of cricket in the rankings determined by the groups. There is no doubt that we will witness to a highly competitive cricket when the event starts in just three months. “

Eoin Morgan says that England are likely to switch teams during the IT20 series against Pakistan and that the players will have a “last chance” to impress before this fall’s T20 World Cup.

A renewed England team dominated the one-day international series after the starting team was forced to self-isolate due to a coronavirus outbreak and, while the majority of the first-choice group is back for the T20s, triumph stars 50 years. Saqib Mahmood, Lewis Gregory and Matt Parkinson are also included in the team.

With the T20 World Cup now just three months away, this series represents one of the last opportunities for Morgan to assess his options ahead of the tournament, and it is one he intends to seize.

When asked if there would be more rotation among England’s 16-team for the three-game series, Morgan said; “There are very few opportunities [left], and without knowing what awaits us, we need to look a little more deeply at our strength.

“He will see opportunities for the guys on the team over the course of the next three games, going through several different options for possible injury replacements for certain players.

In addition to the players who returned from isolation, England are welcoming Jos Buttler after a calf injury.

“That’s the priority throughout the series, treating it as our last chance to see guys in different positions.”

Watch the first international T20 match between England and Pakistan, live on Sky Sports Cricket starting at 6pm on Friday.

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