All you need to know about the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024

After the high of the Indian Premier League, the focus now shifts to the much-awaited ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The ICC showpiece event commences in the USA and the West Indies on June 1, with the final to be played on June 29.

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 will have 20 teams, including eight teams from the Associate Nations, battling it out for the top prize.

The 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup is also a first of sorts, as this is the first time an Associate Member in the ICC is hosting a World Cup. Sixteen matches will be played across three cities in the USA – New York, Lauderhill in Florida and Dallas in Texas. Besides the USA, 41 matches will be held in the Caribbean across six different islands.

The semifinals will be played in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, with the final scheduled to be held in Barbados June 29.

The decision to award the hosting rights to the USA doesn’t come as a complete surprise, as the United States has a lot of time and space to create a complete fan base for cricket. The advent of Major League Cricket (MLC), the USA's top T20 league, was a game changer and the ICC hopes to cash in on the popularity the league has got.

The fans, the media, the players and many stakeholders were happy with how cricket was received with excellent support, as most of the games were played to packed galleries.

This isn’t the first time the USA is hosting cricket. Lauderhill in Florida has hosted international cricket since 2010, including in August 2023, when the West Indies hosted India at the venue for two T20s.

Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas was built for Major League Cricket and hosted 12 matches in the inaugural season in 2023. The Nassau County Stadium on Long Island, New York, is, however, a new stadium and the city will be hosting international cricket for the first time.

The USA is also one of the most lucrative sporting countries for stakeholders. The roaring success of leagues like the NBA, the NFL, the MLB, etc. shows the depth of the capital and how rich the sports market is in the country. Hosting a premier cricket tournament, like the World T20, will augur well for the sport’s popularity and also boost the ICC's coffers.

The early signs are very encouraging. Most of the matches are sold out, including the high-profile India vs. Pakistan match, scheduled to be played in New York on June 9. The initial feelers of hosting the World Cup in the Americas has been positive.

The ICC’s homework of involving some of the best in business to prepare the stadiums is a statement that the governing body isn’t looking at cricket in America as a one time wonder. The Nassau County Stadium on Long Island, New York, was planned by Populus, a big name in the architecture and design industry. The USA-based turf manufacturer LandTek Group, who have a lot of experience creating masterful playing fields for the New York Yankees, New York Mets, and Inter Miami CF, will be in charge of the outfield at the venues.

Adelaide Oval Turf Solutions, led by Adelaide Oval's head groundsperson, Damian Hough, will ensure that top-quality drop-in pitches are made and used in Florida.

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is getting bigger. This edition will have 20 teams participating—the most in any T20 World Cup. Apart from the hosts, the West Indies and the USA, the eight best-placed teams from the 2022 edition (England, Pakistan, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia and the Netherlands) also gained automatic qualification.

Afghanistan and Bangladesh qualified based on their ICC T20 international rankings, while eight teams came through the grind of qualifiers.

Ireland and Scotland topped the charts in the European qualifiers, while Canada won in the Americas qualifier. Nepal and Oman came from Asia, while Namibia and Uganda qualified from Africa. Papua New Guinea then won the East Asia-Pacific qualifier.

The teams have been grouped into four groups of five teams each. The top-two teams from each group will progress to the Super Eight stage.

In the Super Eight stage, the teams will be in two groups of four teams each. The top-two teams in each group of the Super Eight stage will advance to the semifinals and then the finals.

The defending champions are England, who beat Pakistan in the previous edition of the tournament.

In case any of the matches end in a tie, the winners in the league phase will be determined by a Super Over. If the Super Over ends in a tie, the teams will play subsequent Super Overs until there is a clear winner.

In the event of a weather interruption in the Super Eight stage, teams will have to have batted for at least five overs before a result can be determined. However, the rules slightly change for the semifinals and the final, wherein the teams have to bat a minimum of ten overs for a result.

The semifinals also have reserve days apart from additional time. A total of 250 minutes of additional time is available for both semifinals. The first semifinal on June 26 will have 60 minutes available, with a further 190 minutes available on June 27.

The second semifinal on June 27 does not have a reserve day but will have a total of 250 minutes available on the scheduled day, while the final, on June 29, has a reserve day on June 30.

India have been slated to play the second semifinal, if they reach the knockouts.

Co-hosts USA and Canada will kickoff the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 when they meet in Dallas on June 1 at 1930 hrs (local time).

ICC T20 World Cup groups:

Group A: India, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, and the USA.

Group B: England, Australia, Namibia, Scotland, and Oman.

Group C: New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea.

Group D: South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Netherlands, and Nepal.

ICC T20 World Cup past winners:

2007 - India

2009 - Pakistan

2010 - England

2012 - West Indies

2014 - Sri Lanka

2016 - West Indies

2021 - Australia

2022 - England