The 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will begin on Saturday (Sunday as per Indian Standard Time) with an opening clash between the United States of America and Canada.
The ninth edition of the global event, being co-hosted by the United States and West Indies, is the largest ever World Cup in history of cricket in terms of the number of teams competing. The tournament will witness a total of 20 teams battling it out in 55 matches to be crowned world champions in the shortest format of the sport.
The teams competing
A total of 20 teams will compete at the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. While the United States and West Indies qualified automatically by the virtue of being the hosts, a total of eight teams – India, England, Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Netherlands – earned direct qualification as the best teams in the previous edition held in Australia in 2022.
The remainder of the ten teams made it through various qualification routes. For example, Afghanistan and Bangladesh qualified on the basis of their T20I rankings.
Nepal and Oman earned their slot through the Asian qualifiers. Scotland and Ireland made it through from the European qualifiers, while Namibia and Uganda progressed through the African qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Canada won the American qualifiers whereas Papua New Guinea were the East Asia-Pacific qualifying champions.
Teams at 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
Teams | Qualification Route | |
1 | United States of America | Hosts |
2 | West Indies | Hosts |
3 | India | 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup |
4 | Australia | 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup |
5 | England | 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup |
6 | South Africa | 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup |
7 | Pakistan | 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup |
8 | Sri Lanka | 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup |
9 | New Zealand | 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup |
10 | Netherlands | 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup |
11 | Afghanistan | ICC T20I World Rankings |
12 | Bangladesh | ICC T20I World Rankings |
13 | Nepal | Asian Qualifiers |
14 | Oman | Asian Qualifiers |
15 | Namibia | African Qualifiers |
16 | Uganda | African Qualifiers |
17 | Canada | American Qualifiers |
18 | Papua New Guinea | East Asia-Pacific Qualifiers |
19 | Scotland | European Qualifiers |
20 | Ireland | European Qualifiers |
The format
The 20 teams have been divided into four groups of five teams each to start off the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. All teams will play four matches each in the stage (one against each other) and the top two teams from each group will move into the Super Eight.
The eight teams in the Super Eight stage will be further divided into two groups of four teams each. Each team will play three matches apiece in this stage, with the top two teams from both groups advancing to the semi-finals.
The groups
The Rohit Sharma-led Indian team has been drawn in Group A alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, hosts United States, Canada, and Ireland.
Meanwhile, Australia and England have been drawn together in Group B whereas Group C has hosts West Indies, New Zealand, and Afghanistan.
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