International cricket’s shortest and increasingly popular format is back with its showpiece event.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup has kicked off in Australia, less than a year since the last edition saw the current hosts lift the trophy in Dubai.
Last year’s tournament – originally slated for 2020 – was swapped between Australia and India. It was later moved to the UAE and Oman due to the COVID situation in India.
Australia won their first T20 World Cup after brushing aside New Zealand in last year’s low-intensity final.
Format
The tournament is divided into two parts: a qualification round and the Super 12s that are followed by the semi-finals and final.
The qualification round comprised two groups of four teams each. They played each other in a round robin format with the aim of clinching one of the top two spots in their group in order to qualify for the Super 12s.
Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Ireland and Zimbabwe made it through. West Indies, two-time for champions, were knocked out.
The remaining eight teams in the Super 12s gained automatic qualification on the basis of their T20 rankings at the cut-off date last November.
The Super 12s will see all six teams in each group compete in a round robin format. The top two teams from each group will then go on to play the semi-finals on November 9 and 10. The final will be played on November 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
West Indies in 3 back-to-back T20 World Cups:
2016 – Champions
2021 – Super-12s
2022 – First round exit— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) October 21, 2022
Teams
Group 1: Afghanistan, Australia, England, New Zealand, Ireland and Sri Lanka
Group 2: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Netherlands and Zimbabwe
How the teams line up
Defending champions Australia are ranked sixth in the rankings but will start among the favourites while playing at home with a squad packed with power-hitters and T20 experience.
Afghanistan, who have three of the best T20 bowlers in their lineup, will hope to improve on their show last year and secure a spot in the semi-finals.
England come into this tournament with a new captain but a few old names making a comeback. The retirement of Eoin Morgan passed the captaincy to Jos Buttler, who will be happy to see all-rounder Ben Stokes and opener Alex Hales back in the side. England won the tournament in 2010 and were runners-up in 2016.
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