ICC World T20 2016 announced

The groups and fixtures for the World T20 2016 tournament were announced on Friday.

The tournament will be started from March 8 and ended on April 3 in India across 7 venues. There are 16 teams in the fray including 6 qualifiers.

Arch rivals India and Pakistan were drawn into same group. The two teams will face off on March 19 in Dharamsala.

According to the format, 8 teams will play in first round from March 8 to 13 with group winners progressing to Super 10 stage to be played from March 15 to 28.

For the 1st round, Group A has Bangladesh, Netherlands, Ireland and Oman. Group B is made up of Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, Scotland and Afghanistan. The topper from each group progresses to Super 10 phase.

In Super 10 Group 1, Sri Lanka, South Africa, England, West Indies and Group B winner are there. India is with Pakistan, Australia, and New Zealand and Group A winner.

The top 2 from Super 10 groups qualify for semi-finals. The semi-finals will be played on March 30 and 31 in New Delhi and Mumbai respectively.

The final is in Kolkata on April 3. Eden Gardens in Kolkata will be the venue of the final of the tournament.

A total of 58 tournament matches, including 35 men`s matches and 23 women`s matches, will be played in the 27-day tournament in Bengaluru, Chennai, Dharamsala, Kolkata, Mohali, Mumbai, Nagpur and New Delhi.

The women`s semi-finals and final will be followed by the men`s knock-out matches. There is a reserve day for the finals, ICC said.

"The men`s event will carry a total prize money of $5.6million, which is an 86 per cent increase from the 2014 tournament, while the total prize money for the women`s event is $400,000, which is a 122 per cent increase from the Bangladesh event," the ICC added.