Path is set for World Cup glory

Australia will have to turn the tables on the West Indies and take down old enemy England just to get out of the group stages when its pursuit of a first-ever T20 World Cup begins in October.

Fresh off a horror tour of the Caribbean and Bangladesh, during which Australia won just two of 10 T20s, coach Justin Langer’s team has been put in a pool with the Windies, England and South Africa.

Only the top two teams from each pool will progress to the semi-finals of the tournament which for Australia begins on October 28 against the Proteas, with games to be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Australia will England then the West Indies in the last of five pool games, with matches against two yet to be determined qualifiers , one of which could be Bangladesh.

Despite the comprehensive recent series victory over the Aussies, Bangladesh is yet to qualify for the “Super 12” stage of the World Cup and will, along with teams including Sri Lanka, Ireland and Papua New Guinea, play in pre-tournament qualifiers.

Australian captain Aaron Finch remains in a race to be fit for the tournament having undergone successful knee surgery last week, after being forced to leave the West Indies.

Australia lost eight of 10 T20s in Bangladesh and the West Indies (Photo by Munir Uz zaman / AFP)Source:AFP

Cricket Australia has cleared the way for Australian T20 stars including David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis to return to the Indian Premier League in the UAE in September and October for crucial World Cup preparation

The IPL was cancelled earlier this year amid a catastrophic outbreak of Covid-19 in India and rescheduled to the later date be completed.

Eight Australian players who participated in the initial stage of this year’s IPL made themselves unavailable for the unsuccessful tour of the West Indies and Bangladesh, where the T20 side slumped to 4-1 defeats against both nations.

Seven of those players – Warner, Maxwell, Smith, Stoinis, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson and Daniel Sams – are now expected to return to the IPL.

Australia legend Ricky Ponting, who is also head coach of the Delhi Capitals IPL side, said the tournament was ideal preparation for the T20 World Cup despite their appearance playing coming at the cost of appearing in the start of the Australian domestic season.

“No doubt it‘s their best preparation to be in those exact conditions, playing in probably the strongest domestic T20 tournament in the world,” Ponting said on SEN radio last week.

“I‘m not sure if they’ll be any restrictions on the bowlers going there, there may well be, but certainly the guys like Smith, Davey, Maxi, Stoinis who have been out of cricket for three or four months they need to get back into the groove.”

Australia's 2021 T20 World Cup schedule

October 23 v South Africa in Abu Dhabi (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

October 28 v Qualifier A1 in Dubai (6pm local time, 1am AEDT)

October 30 v England in Dubai (6pm local time, 1am AEDT)

November 4 v Qualifier B2 in Dubai (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

November 6 v West Indies in Abu Dhabi (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

2021 T20 World Cup groups

Round 1

Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia

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

Super 12s

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

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

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