T20 World Cup gives India vs Pakistan clash pride of place with MCG gig

India and Pakistan will clash in the ultimate blockbuster T20 World Cup group clash for the second year running after the fixtures for the October-November 2022 tournament in Australia were announced.

The fierce rivals will lock horns at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on October 23, a day after Australia begin their title defence against New Zealand in Sydney, match that us a repeat of the 2021 final in Dubai where Aaron Finch’s team won their maiden crown.

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The 16-nation T20 World Cup will begin on October 16 with Sri Lanka facing Namibia in Geelong — one of seven venues as Australia hosts for the showpiece first time.

“Our planning was ultra-detailed last time and knowing what the groups look like nine months out is really helpful because it can help your level of detail in that planning phase more and more,” Finch said.

“It’s a tough group though, and when you throw in qualifiers like the West Indies and Sri Lanka, you’ve got to play really well to get out of that group stage.”

The top two teams from both Group A and Group B in the preliminary first round will join the automatically qualified nations in the Super 12 stage.

England, New Zealand, Australia and Afghanistan have been drawn together in Group 1.

India, Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh are clubbed in Group 2.

The spotlight will be on the Group 2 India-Pakistan contest at the MCG, with the two in recent years only meeting in multi-nation events due to tensions over the disputed border territory of Kashmir.

Pakistan