The ICC T20 World Cup

The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is an international cricket tournament hosted by the International Cricket Council. This tournament conducts matches among 16 national cricket teams of the world. While the top 10 teams come from the rankings at a given deadline, the other teams are picked through the T20 World Cup Qualifier matches. This article takes a broad look at the ICC World Cup format, its various milestones, and the 2021 T20 World Cup.

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Birth of the T20 World Cup

Background

When the Benson and Hedges Cup ended in 2002, the English Cricket Board needed another tournament to fill its place. The Board realized that interest in cricket was waning among younger people. Cricket fans at large were getting bored by the long duration of cricket and this was hurting the sport's popularity.

It was at this juncture when Stuart Robinson, ECB's marketing manager, proposed a 20-over format. Each team would play 20 overs, and the match would end in just a few hours. The ECB approved this proposal 11-7, and this is how the T20 format came into being.

Inaugural tournaments

In 2007, the ICC decided to hold the T20 championships every two years. However, should this tournament take place in the same year as the 50-over World Cup, the former would be shifted one year earlier. As a result, the first T20 World Cup came up in 2007 in South Africa where India beat Pakistan in the final and won the ICC World Cup.

Scotland and Kenya qualified for the 2007 World Cup after beating their competitors in a 50-over qualifier tournament in Nairobi. In 2007 December, the ICC whittled the overs in the qualifying tournament from 50 to 20.

Pakistan won the second ICC World Cup in 2009 after beating Sri Lanka. The next World Cup in 2010 was won by England after defeating Australia by 7 wickets. In 2012, it was the turn of the West Indies to lift the Cup. There were 12 teams in this tournament including Ireland and Afghanistan.

Expansion to 16 teams

The 2014 ICC World Cup expanded to 16 teams. There were ten full members and six associate teams which entered the competition through the 2013 World Cup Qualifier. Nepal, Hong Kong and the UAE made their debut in this tournament.

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The ICC World Cup Format

Qualification

All the full members of the ICC automatically qualify for this tournament. These are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies, Australia, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and England. The remaining teams qualify for the World Cup by playing in the T20 qualifier matches. There were only two teams (Scotland and Kenya) that qualified for the 2007 World Cup. This number went up to six in the 2014 and 2016 tournaments.

Final tournament

There are two stages in the final tournament — Preliminary round and Super-12 round. Teams rank according to the following criteria:

1. A higher number of points.
2. If points are the same, then a higher number of wins.
3. Now, if wins are also the same, then the Net Run Rate matters.
4. Again, if still equal, then Bowling Strike Rate matters.
5. If still equal, then a head-to-head meeting takes place.

If there is a tie, both the teams have to play a Super Over. Then, if this match also is tied, then another Super Over would be played. This continues until one team emerges as the winner.

Hosts

The International Cricket Council votes on deciding the hosts of this tournament. So far, West Indies, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and South Africa have hosted the ICC World Cup. The ICC has proposed to hold the T20 World Cup in the United States and Malaysia in the future.

ICC World Cup winners

2007

India won the 2007 ICC World Cup defeating Pakistan by 5 runs. The final match was played in Johannesberg, South Africa.

2009

Pakistan won this tournament in England after defeating Sri Lanka by 8 wickets. This World Cup final took place in London.

2010

The 2011 World Cup was preponed to 2010 because of the existing ICC rules. This tournament was held in West Indies. England beat Australia in the finals and lifted the World Cup.

2012

West Indies beat the hosts, Sri Lanka in Colombo and won the 2012 ICC World Cup. Indies won this match by a whopping margin of 36 runs!

2014

This time, it was the turn of Sri Lanka to win the Cup. The Sri Lankans beat India in the finals at Dhaka by 6 wickets to take the Cup home.

2016

West Indies won the finals in Kolkata after beating England by 4 wickets.

2020

The 2020 World Cup was to be played in India. However, the ICC has not only postponed this tournament by a year, it has also changed the venue also. Now, this tournament will be played in the UAE, and it starts from October 23, 2021. In fact, the Super stage matches start from that date.

Teams participating in the 2020 WC

The following teams are participating in the T20 World Cup:

• Oman
• Papua New Guinea
• Netherlands
• Ireland
• Scotland
• Bangladesh
• Namibia
• Sri Lanka
• Australia
• South Africa
• West Indies
• New Zealand
• India
• Pakistan
• England
• Afghanistan

The final match would be played on November 14, 2021, at 1930 hours, IST.

Where to bet on the ICC World Cup

You can lay bets on the following websites; Leo Vegas, Casumo, 10Cric, Dafabet, 22Bet, etc.

Conclusion

The ICC World Cup has completely revolutionized international cricket. This World Cup is even more interesting because erstwhile teammates emerge foes. The IPL has just ended in the UAE, and players would be returning to their national sides for the T20 World Cup. Old rivalries, such as between India and Pakistan, would erupt once both the teams face off on 24th October.

There are fresh contenders to the trophy this year. Australia and New Zealand have never won this Cup, and they would be eager to start their matches quickly. Similarly, India under Virat Kohli would like to win the Cup once again. All eyes would be on Pakistan who have been away from international cricket for a long time. To sum up, this would be an interesting tournament for all cricket lovers.