Dubai: Defending champions India were today placed in an easy group A -- alongside Bangladesh and Zimbabwe -- for the 2009 ICC Twenty20 cricket World Championships in England.

The grouping for the second edition of the event was decided in a two-day ICC Board meeting, which concluded here today. The early decision on the matter was taken on the request of hosts England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), who want to proceed with the venue event bidding process which would allow match tickets to go on sale at the earliest.

Since not enough matches have been played in the shortest format of the game to allow viable official rankings, the Board decided to group teams on the basis of their finishing positions in the inaugural edition of the championship this year.

ODI world champions Australia have been placed in group C along with Sri Lanka and West Indies.

The Groups:
Group A: India, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe
Group B: Pakistan, England, Associate 1
Group C: Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies
Group D: New Zealand, South Africa, Associate 2.

Source : PTI