A peek at the recent form of most of the cricket-playing nations might just be enough to give you an idea as to how they could fare at a particular event.
England scripted history in 2022 when Jos Buttler-led team defeated Pakistan at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to win the T20 World Cup more than once.
If history has imparted any wisdom, it’s to never count out the West Indies cricket team, even after a year as calamitous as 2023. Failing to advance to the main round of the ODI World Cup in India was a colossal debacle, even for a team that have long concentrated their efforts on Twenty20 cricket.
On the face of it, this should be a World Cup that suits South Asian teams. Pitches in the Caribbean have tended to be slow, in Guyana, Kingstown, and Antigua in particular.
Even though cricket is a global game which in terms of popularity is only behind football in the world, the people running the sport have always been sceptical about letting new teams join the ranks of the established names.
If someone were wandering the streets of the USA and heard the sweet sound of a bat meeting ball, the immediate assumption might be that it’s a baseball game. However, it’s increasingly likely that this sound comes from a cricket match.
Nepal were unfortunate not to go through to the Super 10s of the 2014 T20 World Cup, their debut campaign, as they were edged by Bangladesh on net run-rate.
Netherlands arrive in the tournament by virtue of having secured automatic qualification, finishing in top-eight of the previous edition, but without veterans Roelof van der Merwe and Colin Ackerman as selectors opted for promising talents.
The fact that Afghanistan have had nine players in teams’ rosters for the Indian Premier League this season speaks volumes about the reputation of Afghan individuals as well as Afghanistan as a team in Twenty20 cricket. To put this into perspective, that number is more than Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and on par with New Zealand and West Indies -- the latter two regarded as powerhouses in all forms of cricket.
Online cricket traffic coming out of the USA as well as ICC event ticket purchase credit card sales data further supported the point that there is plenty of money to be made out of fans located in America, who are starved of high-quality cricket action close to home.
Uganda qualifying for the ICC T20 World Cup might have been an upset, but it definitely wasn’t an accident.
I In 2007 as the inaugural edition was about to start, Twenty20s were still widely viewed as the ‘fun’ version of cricket. Its reputation as the ‘fun’ version, prompted the ‘serious’ cricketers to distance themselves from it. Perhaps seeing something like a ‘bowl out’ decide the fate of tied matches inclined them to stay away from such frivolity.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) are back in the T20 World Cup after a one-edition absence. They dominated in the East Asia-Pacific Qualifier, winning all six matches on home soil.
For those cricket fans who have got used to enjoying the sight of batters steamrolling bowlers of all ilk over the past 65 days or so, will the forthcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies may prove to be a bit of a turn-off.
Under the guidance of a young Najmul Hossain Shanto and with some exciting weapons in their arsenal, Bangladesh will hope to re-write their record in T20 World Cups heading into the ninth edition of the mega event.
India will have to set aside all the chatter regarding a few of their star names and get behind one common idea of winning the T20 World Cup if they are to quench their thirst for a first major trophy in white-ball cricket since their 2013 Champions Trophy triumph.
South Africa’s cricket team embodies immense talent and potential, yet since re-instatement into international cricket, they have always fallen short of winning trophies. Despite fielding powerful squads and entering tournaments as favorites, they’ve consistently earned the unenviable title of “chokers.”
Lately, things have been a bit unsettling for Pakistan, runners-up of the last T20 World Cup in 2022 in Australia and champions of the 2009 edition.
