The International Cricket Council has announced that India and Pakistan will play their group match at next year's World Twenty20 in the hill city of Dharamsala on March 19, while New Delhi and Mumbai will host the semifinals. Kolkata's Eden Gardens has already been announced as the venue for the final of the March 8 to April 3, 16-team tournament. South Africa, England, West Indies and Sri Lanka are in Group 1, while India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand are placed in Group 2 of the Super 10 stage, according to the schedule released Friday. The top eight teams gain direct entry to the Super 10 stage and will be joined by two of the eight other teams competing in a preliminary league. The second round gets underway with host India taking on New Zealand on March 15 in Nagpur, in the western state of Maharashtra. Defending champion Sri Lanka begins the defense of its title against a qualifying team on March 17 in Kolkata. World cricket's governing body said eight venues across India would host the showpiece event. "The ICC and BCCI are fully committed and will work together to make this a memorable event," said ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar, who also heads the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). India versus Pakistan is set to be one of the most anticipated clashes of the tournament but fans could find tickets hard to come by, with organizers overlooking larger stadiums in favor of Dharamsala, home to the Dalai Lama. The sleepy hill station of Dharamsala lies at the Himalayan foothills. Its stadium houses just 23,000 fans. Eden Gardens, in comparison, can accommodate more than 60,000 spectators while Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, which is likely to have been ruled out because of security reasons, has a capacity of around 35,000. "We, as hosts, are fully prepared to organize one of the most entertaining spectacles in world cricket," said BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, who is also president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association which runs the Dharamsala stadium. India had suspended bilateral cricket with Pakistan in the aftermath of the deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on militants based across the border. A recent thaw in relations has raised hopes for a bilateral series, which is currently awaiting the Indian government's approval. — Agencies
