Cricket is a household sport in India. From playing street cricket to watching the world cup with bated breath, Indians have a close association with the sport. While the 80s and 90s were all about one-day and test matches, the early 2000s introduced the current favourite Twenty20 international. While the other forms of cricket continue to exist, Twenty20 is reigning as one of the most popular forms of cricket of the 21st century. Ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, let us revisit the journey of this new form of cricket that has been taking over the world by a storm.

How did T20 come into existence?

In the early 1990s, New Zealand’s former Test batsman Martin Crowe developed a shorter form of cricket called Cricket Max. However, it wasn’t until 2003 that the England and Wales Cricket Board established the rules to play the first ever tournament. Each innings lasts around 70 minutes, with 10-minute in-between break innings. Thanks to the simplicity and duration, T20 cricket was quickly adopted by other countries. In August 2004, the first Twenty20 International match was held between the England and New Zealand women’s teams. Six months later, the first men’s international Twenty20 match was played at Eden Park in Auckland between Australia and New Zealand.

The media attention and enthusiasm turned T20 into a sensation, with various countries introducing their own formats. As these matches garnered popularity, the first ever T20 World Cup was introduced. Played in South Africa in 2007, India emerged as the winner after defeating Pakistan in the finals. In India, T20 paved the way for the Indian Premier League. IPL is the most-attended cricket league in the world and has had 15 seasons since its inauguration. In 2014, IPL was ranked sixth by average attendance among all sports leagues.

Different T20 matches around the world

While there are many domestic T20 leagues, here are three of the most popular T20 matches from around the world.

  • Twenty20 International

    Twenty20 International (T20I) is played between two international members of the ICC. The women’s team inaugurated the first Twenty20 International match in August 2004, while the men’s team had its first match in 2005. These matches enjoy top-class status and are considered the highest T20 standard.

  • IPL

    Founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the popular forms of T20 cricket. Currently, there are ten teams named after each metro city in India. Each player within the team is auctioned at the beginning of the season or by trading players with other teams. Mumbai Indians hold the record for maximum wins, followed by Chennai Super Kings.

  • ICC World T20s

    Since 2007, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has organized an ICC Men’s World Twenty20 tournament every two years. The tournament currently consists of 16 teams. The top ten teams are selected from the rankings at the given deadline. The other six teams are chosen based on their T20 World Cup Qualifier performance. Similarly, ICC organizes ICC Women’s T20 World Cup for the Women’s cricket teams. This biennial event started in 2009 with eight participants but increased to ten from the 2014 edition.

Road to T20 world cup final

While all ICC full members qualify automatically for the tournament, other ICC members can enter the match through a qualification tournament. The first edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier had six teams participating, while the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup had two different qualifiers comprising eight teams each.

Of the total sixteen teams, twelve teams from the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup and four teams from qualification events would be selected. The teams will be ranked against each other based on the preliminary matches and the Super 12 matches conducted. The ranks decide the teams’ position on the scoreboard, progressing them to the quarter-finals and eventually semi-finals. In case of a tie, the winner is decided based on a Super Over.

If you have plans to watch the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup this year with your friends at home, we hope the above trivia has you excited and covered for the mid-match ad breaks to impress your friends! And if you are thinking about visiting the Land Down Under to witness the players in action, don’t worry because we’ve got you covered! To plan a trip to Australia, here are four simple travel tips to keep in mind.

  • Use a travel website to book tickets in advance. You can also avoid surge pricing when you book last minute as there is an option to compare the costs of different airlines.
  • Always have travel insurance. Travel insurance protects you against risks and financial losses such as missed airline connections, trip cancellation, delayed luggage, or even any medical illness.
  • Avoid spending all your money on transportation and book a hotel closer to the venue. Australia also has metro services that can make travelling convenient and affordable.
  • One cannot visit Australia without exploring its famous tourist attractions. Purchase city passes or tour packages to visit famous tourist attractions.

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