Twenty20 WC: India, Pak in same group

India has been drawn with arch-rivals Pakistan and minnows Scotland for the group stages of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup to be held in South Africa in September.

The three teams have been pooled in Group D of the tournament which will see 12 countries.

Group A has South Africa, West Indies [Images] and Bangladesh while Group B features world champions Australia, England [Images] and Zimbabwe. New Zealand [Images], Sri Lanka [Images] and Kenya form Group C.

The teams were seeded based on their rankings in Twenty20 format as of March 1, 2007.

The group stages will be followed by the Super Eights, made up of the top two teams in each group. The top four teams from the Super Eights will advance to the semi-finals, South African cricket chief Gerald Majola said on Tuesday.

Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban have been chosen as the venues for the Twenty20 World Cup.

The teams are expected to arrive approximately five-seven days before the first match. Two rounds of warm-up matches will be played on September 8 and 9.

"The launch event is planned to take place on July 26 in Johannesburg. It will set the tone for the build-up to the non-stop cricket action coming to Wanderers in Johannesburg, Newlands in Cape Town and Kingsmead in Durban", Steve Elworthy, one of the managers of Cricket South Africa, said.

"The two semi-finals will be played on September 22, while the final will be staged back at Wanderers, Johannesburg, on September 24, which is Heritage Day in South Africa," Elworthy added.

I can contribute with the ball in England: Ganguly

Recalled to the Indian one-day team, Sourav Ganguly [Images] says that apart from his regular role with the bat, he could also be useful as a bowler in the favourable conditions of England [Images] and Ireland.

"I think I can contribute with the ball. It [conditions] will definitely help the ball to move around in England. We are going in the second half [of the summer] and I hope everyone lifts their game," Ganguly told CNN-IBN.

Ganguly felt England would miss Andrew Flintoff [Images] in the ODI and Test series if the talismanic all-rounder fails to recover from the ankle injury.

"Obviously they'll miss Flintoff, who is not a part of their team. Flintoff makes a lot of difference to their squad. But it will be a good series," he added.

Ganguly, along with Sachin Tendulkar [Images], was included in the ODI squad that will play three matches against South Africa in Ireland (June 26-July 1) and another against Pakistan in Glasgow, Scotland (July 3).

The two were rested for the one-day series in Bangladesh last month.

They, however, were part of the Test squad that beat Bangladesh 1-0 and are among the 16 that is to play three Tests in England in July-September.