T20 World Cup schedule announced: Bangladesh to face Scotland on the opening day

The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE and Oman will start from 17 October. The Final match will be played in Dubai on 14 November.

The ICC announced the fixtures for the 16-team tournament on Tuesday, 17 August. 

In this tournament, Bangladesh will start their campaign against Scotland. The match will be played at the Oman Cricket Academy ground in Muscat on 17 October.

Bangladesh and 2014 champions Sri Lanka feature In round 1. There are some other teams, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland.

The seventh edition of the tournament is hosted by India. But all the matches will be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

The first semi-final will be played in Abu Dhabi on November 10. Dubai will be the venue for the second semi-final on 11 November and the final on 14 November.  

All-day matches are scheduled for 14h00 local time and the day-night matches are slated for 18h00 local time (+4 GMT). 

Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah backs the depth of this team. But the other captains foresee thrilling games and a high standard of the game.

Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah: "It's a very important tournament for all teams and especially for our team. We are playing a few series before the T20 World Cup and if we can do well, get a bit of confidence, try to win those series before the World Cup starts, it will be a big boost for our team.

"In a tournament like the T20 World Cup every match is equally important. Whoever you are playing, you have to be on the top from the first ball, you have to be in the right frame of mind and focus on the team processes so you can win every game. 

"Our strength has been our all-rounders and our bowling department. Having said that, our batting is also very good and we have a good balance. We have five or six all-rounders, who can bat and bowl. Our fast bowlers are doing an incredible job at the moment. Our spinners are our strength as well. If they can put up their hand in a few matches, hopefully, we will have some good results.

"Shakib has been the number one all-rounder and the most valuable player in our team. Mushfiqur Rahim and Mustafizur Rahman are also very important. Others like Afif (Hossain), Shamim (Hossain) and Sohan (Nurul Hasan) are really keen to do well for themselves and the team as well, and those are the youngsters to look out for."

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard is an excilent cricket. He helped themhis team to defeat England in the final at the Eden Gardens in 2016. And the last over four consecutive sixes from Carlos Brathwaite snatched the victory from the Three Lions.

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard said: "We are excited to begin defence of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup title later this year. T20 cricket is dynamic and the international scene is highly competitive, with players constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation and we are expecting a spectacular event in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

"We have a particularly interesting Super 12 group, which sees us come up against Australia, England and South Africa. We can't wait to get started! West Indian cricketers have always played an exciting brand of cricket and I am sure our fans in the Caribbean and all over the world are highly anticipating seeing us in action."

Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood said: "I extend a warm welcome to all teams who will be playing in our country in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to be turning out in a global ICC event on our home ground - to show the world what we are capable of as players and as a venue.

"Our preparations are on track under the guidance of coach Duleep Mendis and we aim to be at our best, come October 17. In our group we will be playing against Bangladesh, Scotland and Papua New Guinea. All these teams are very skillful, and we are looking forward to competing against them to the best of our ability. I'm sure there will be thrills aplenty in the much-awaited tournament."

Papua New Guinea captain Assad Vala: "It's an honour, for me especially, to be leading this group of boys to the World Cup. To be there from the start, from the qualification stage, to finally qualify and be participating in one of the World Cups is a dream come true for the team.

"It is a huge occasion for every individual who is going to the World Cup - to reach the highest peak of cricket, to be able to play against the best. We are really looking forward to competing and giving our best.

"We have been playing against Oman and Scotland over the last couple of years but the team we are really looking forward to playing is Bangladesh, which is a Full Member nation. It will be good for us to test ourselves against a top-quality team and see where we are. 

"There is no superstar in our squad. We are a disciplined side who play our roles and executive our skills to the best of our ability. The players to watch out in our team are opening batsman Tony Ura and new-ball bowler and allrounder Norman Vanua. Norman is a power-hitting hitting batsman and Tony can be dangerous at the top."

The media release for the group announcements is available here.

The groupings:

Round 1

Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, the Netherlands and Namibia

Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Oman

(Top two teams from each group advance to Super 12s)

Super 12s

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, A1 and B2.

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, A2 and B1.

(Top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals)

Complete schedule:

Round 1

17 Oct: Oman v Papua New Guinea, Muscat (14h00); Bangladesh v Scotland, Muscat (18h00)

18 Oct: Ireland v Netherlands, Abu Dhabi (14h00); Sri Lanka v Namibia, Abu Dhabi (18h00)

19 Oct: Scotland v PNG, Muscat (14h00); Oman v Bangladesh, Muscat (18h00)

20 Oct: Namibia v Netherlands, Abu Dhabi (14h00); Sri Lanka v Ireland, Abu Dhabi (18h00)

21 Oct: Bangladesh v Papua New Guinea, Muscat (14h00); Oman v Scotland, Muscat (18h00)

22 Oct: Namibia v Ireland, Sharjah (14h00); Sri Lanka v Netherlands, Sharjah (18h00)

Super 12s

23 Oct: Australia v South Africa, Abu Dhabi (14h00); England v West Indies, Dubai (18h00)

24 Oct: A1 v B2, Sharjah (14h00); India v Pakistan, Dubai (18h00)

25 Oct: Afghanistan v B1, Sharjah (18h00)

26 Oct: South Africa v West Indies, Dubai (14h00); Pakistan v New Zealand, Sharjah (18h00)

27 Oct: England v B2, Abu Dhabi (14h00); B1 v A2, Abu Dhabi (18h00)

28 Oct: Australia v A1, Dubai (14h00)

29 Oct: West Indies v B2, Sharjah (14h00); Pakistan v Afghanistan, Dubai (18h00)

30 Oct: South Africa v A1, Sharjah (14h00); Australia v England, Dubai (18h00)

31 Oct: Afghanistan v A2, Abu Dhabi (14h00); India v New Zealand, Dubai (18h00)

1 Nov: England v A1, Sharjah (18h00)

2 Nov: South Africa v B2, Abu Dhabi (14h00); Pakistan v A2, Abu Dhabi (18h00)

3 Nov: New Zealand v B1, Dubai (14h00); India v Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi (18h00)

4 Nov: Australia v B2, Dubai (14h00); West indies v A1, Abu Dhabi (18h00)

5 Nov: New Zealand v A2, Sharjah (14h00); India v B1, Dubai (18h00)

6 Nov: Australia v West Indies, Abu Dhabi (14h00); England v South Africa, Sharjah (18h00)

7 Nov: New Zealand v Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi (14h00): Pakistan v B1, Sharjah (18h00)

8 Nov: India v A2, Dubai (18h00)

Knock-out stage

10 Nov: Semi-final 1 (A1 v B2), Abu Dhabi (18h00)

11 Nov: Semi-final 2 (B1 v A2), Dubai (18h00)

14 Nov: Final, Dubai (18h00)

About the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021

• The seventh edition of the tournament comprises 16 teams and is being hosted by India in the United Arab Emirates and Oman

• The tournament is being played at four venues – Dubai International Stadium, Oman Cricket Academy (Muscat), Sharjah Cricket Stadium and Zayed Cricket Stadium (Abu Dhabi)

• Hosts India and nine other top teams in the MRF Tyres ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings as of 31 December 2018 got direct entries

• The top eight were placed directly in the Super 12s and the next two – Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - joined six other teams coming through a Qualifier event in the group stage

• Two teams each from the group stage, consisting of four teams each, will join the eight direct entrants to complete the Super 12s line-up.

• If Sri Lanka and Bangladesh qualify from the first round, they will retain the seedings of A1 and B1 respectively for the Super 12s

• The top two teams from each group of the Super 12s will make the knockouts, the matchups being - A1 v B2 and B2 v A1