India to play Australia on the opening day of World T20 2020 in Sydney

Australia, the defending champions, will take on India in the opening game of the Twenty20 World Cup 2020 in Sydney. The International Cricket Council announced the full fixture on Tuesday (January 29). This will be the first time that both the men’s and women’s T20 World Cup will be standalone events held in the same year.



The final is to be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 8, which is also the International Women’s Day. The ICC is hopeful that the marquee class will attract a record crowd of over 92,000. The World T20 last year in the Caribbean was also a standalone event and was a huge success.



The tournament will be played in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth. The Sydney Cricket Ground will host both the semifinals on March 5.



The eight top-ranked teams based on finishing positions from the last World T20 have automatically qualified, with the remaining two places to be determined through a qualifying tournament to be held later in 2019.



Australia, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and one of the qualifying teams are in Group A, while Group B constitutes of England, South Africa, Pakistan, Windies and the other qualifying team.



Over half of the tickets for the matches have been priced at $20 said a release from the ICC.



The Women’s event will be followed by the Men’s tournament.



“We’re so excited to be able to let fans all around Australia and the world know when and where their teams will play, so they can start planning now,” Nick Hockley, the Local Organising Committee’s CEO, said. “World Cups are all about bringing people together. We know that passionate fans of all generations and cultures will travel from near and far to support their teams and that they will receive the warmest of welcomes in our wonderful host cities.



“Putting on events of this scale are a big team effort and we would like to thank all our valued partners for making sure that the T20 World Cup is not only a spectacular celebration in 2020, but that it leaves a lasting positive impact,” he added. “With the Women’s T20 World Cup up first, we’ll be calling on cricket fans to bring their families, friends and communities to support the best players in the world.”



David Richardson, ICC’s chief executive, said: “Whenever we host an event in Australia we know we can guarantee the one billion cricket fans around the world a great show. The world’s best players. Outstanding venues. Noisy, passionate, knowledgeable fans. Exciting cricket. This is the perfect combination for a T20 World Cup and in 2020 we go one step further with two T20 World Cups in one year.



“To hold two T20 World Cup finals at the world’s largest cricket stadium in front of 92,000 people with hundreds of millions more watching around the world is a particularly exciting prospect as we look to grow the fans around the world and make 2020 the year of cricket.”



Complete Fixtures Here