The International Cricket Council on Wednesday announced the grouping and fixture of ICC Champions Trophy next year with Bangladesh placed in Group A alongside hosts England and 2015 World Cup finalists Australia and New Zealand.
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa were placed in Group B for the 18-day tournament, which will run from June 1 to 18, 2017.
Event hosts and 2004 and 2013 finalists England will take on Bangladesh in the tournament opener at The Oval on June 1.
The Tigers will face Australia in their next match at the same venue on June 5 in a day-night affair before completing their group phase against New Zealand at Cardiff on June 9.ICC Champions Tophy
Bangladesh captain Mashrafee bin Murtaza expressed confidence that his side will justify its return to the tournament for the first time since 2006.
‘I am delighted that we are returning to the ICC Champions Trophy next year and the icing on the cake is we will feature in the tournament opener against the home side, which we beat in Adelaide to qualify for our maiden ICC Cricket World Cup quarter-final.’
‘This is not only a reward for our performances and achievements in the past 18 months or so, but also gives us the confidence that we can start the event on a winning note.’
‘We have qualified for the ICC Champions Trophy on merit and through consistent results, which we would like to maintain this season and then carry the momentum into the main competition.’
‘I firmly believe we belong to the elite group of teams and hopefully through our performances we will be able to justify our place.’
The matches of the tournament will be held in Birmingham, London and Cardiff.
The top two sides from each group will progress to the semi-finals, which will be played at Cardiff and Edgbaston on June 14 and 15 respectively, with The Oval hosting the final. There will be a reserve day for the final.
Schedule:
June 1– England v Bangladesh, The Oval (d)
June 2 – Australia v New Zealand, Edgbaston (d)
June 3 – Sri Lanka v South Africa, The Oval (d)
June 4 – India v Pakistan, Edgbaston (d)
June 5 – Australia v Bangladesh, The Oval (d/n)
June 6 – England v New Zealand, Cardiff (d)
June 7 – Pakistan v South Africa, Edgbaston (d/n)
June 8 – India v Sri Lanka, The Oval (d)
June 9– New Zealand v Bangladesh, Cardiff (d)
June 10 – England v Australia, Edgbaston (d)
June 11 – India v South Africa, The Oval (d)
June 12 – Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Cardiff (d)
June 14 – First semi-final (A1 v B2), Cardiff (d)
June 15 – Second semi-final (A2 v B1), Edgbaston (d)
June 18 – Final, The Oval (d)
June 19 – Reserve day (d)
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