Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Oct.16: After a five-year wait, the ICC men’s T20 World Cup returns on Sunday, with 16 nations vying to follow in the footsteps of the West Indies, who won the tournament in 2016.
It all starts with the first round, which features eight teams divided into two pools, with the top two qualifying for the Super 12, where they will join the world’s top eight teams.
Sri Lanka, who have played and won more matches in the ICC men’s T20 World Cup than any other nation, and Bangladesh, the other ever-present among the eight, are among the first-round teams.
Bangladesh will play Scotland on the first day, but the action begins at the Al Amerat Cricket Stadium with hosts Oman taking on debutants Papua New Guinea.
Those four teams are in Group B, while Ireland and the Netherlands face battle in a potentially pivotal match on Monday, followed by Sri Lanka’s match against Namibia later that day in Group A.
With 12 games spread out over the first six days, the action will be intense to determine which teams will advance to the Super 12, with defending champions West Indies, reigning one-day world champions England, and heavyweights Australia and South Africa in Group 1.
The champions of Group A and the runners-up of Group B will join them.
In Group 2, India is joined by great rivals Pakistan, whom they will play in their first game, as well as New Zealand and Afghanistan, the developing force in T20 cricket, as well as the Group B and Group A winners and runners-up.
The Super 12 season begins on October 23 with Australia taking on South Africa in one of the sport’s most storied rivalries, followed by a day/night match between England and the West Indies at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, a rematch of the 2016 final in which Carlos Brathwaite made his mark on the world stage.
Three players from the first T20 World Cup, including Chris Gayle, all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, and fast bowler Ravi Rampaul, are part of the seasoned Windies side.
They’re three of the seven players who made an appearance in the first edition and are returning. The other four players are Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh, Mohammad Hafeez of Pakistan, and Rohit Sharma of India.
Those players could all have a significant impact on the ultimate result, but as Brathwaite demonstrated in 2016 with his 34 off 10 deliveries, newcomers can also be heroes.
T20 cricket is all about speed, and with 30 matches in only 17 days, the Super 12 will fly by. By November 10, there will be just four teams left, with the first semi-final taking place at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, and the second semi-final and final taking place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on November 14.
