Twenty teams, one trophy. Never in the history of limited overs in cricket, has a tournament as big as the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup been held.
Co-hosted by the USA and West Indies, the ninth edition of the mega event will feature a record number of teams, which will clash between 1 June and 29 June in nine different venues.
These 20 teams are placed in four groups of five each for the first stage of the mega event; two teams from each group will qualify for the Super 8 stage, which will then decide which teams should progress to the knockout stage and which should go back empty-handed.
A total of 55 matches, including the semi-final and the final, will be played in the 29-day event, where the team that wins the grand finale will be crowned champion at Barbados on 29 June.
How the USA Cricket team is part of the T20 World Cup is the question in everyone’s mind, since the country is known for its achievements in athletics, baseball and basketball. The answer to this lies in the fact that due to its proximity to the Caribbean, and the game’s popularity in the region, the International Cricket Council decided to give the US a chance as a cricket host.
Who knows, the tournament can start a ripple effect that can help both cricket and the fans who want to watch the game in the region, just like it helped soccer when the FIFA World Cup was held in the United States 30 years ago.
Most of the matches in the event will still be played in the West Indies, where six grounds will be used, in contrast to three in the United States. Out of the 55 matches, West Indies will host 39 matches, while 16 will be held in Lauderhill, Dallas and New York, including the blockbuster clash between India and Pakistan on 9 June.
A look at the four groups
Group A: India, Pakistan, USA, Ireland and Canada
Group A in the mega event will feature arch-rivals India and Pakistan together alongside Canada, Ireland and co-hosts USA. On paper, former champions Pakistan and India look stronger than the rest of the sides, but Ireland recently defeated Pakistan, and the US side won a T20I series against Bangladesh. Any team can progress to the Super 8 stage from this group, if they raise the bar in group matches.
Group B: England, Australia, Namibia, Scotland and Oman
Defending champions England and former champions Australia look set to progress to the next round from this group, provided an upset doesn’t occur during the group matches. Namibia and Scotland are experienced sides with quality cricketers; if they play well, anything is possible. Oman has been impressive in the qualification phase and a good performance can be expected from........