The T20 World Cup is upon us, with the first round of matches beginning on Sunday, October 16. Let us look at some of the things we fans need to look out for, as we relish the battle between 16 teams who all have the same goal in mind.
Format
The World Cup will kick off with the first-round battle between eight teams across two groups, who will fight for the right to play on. Four teams from the first round will make it to the second round, called the Super 12, and will be paired with the top eight teams, who have automatically qualified.
Group A comprises UAE, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and Namibia while Group B has Ireland, Zimbabwe, West Indies, and Scotland. The top two teams from each group make it to the Super 12, which begins on October 22.
The Super 12 is split across two groups of six teams each. In Group 1, we have Afghanistan, Australia, England, New Zealand, Group A winner, and Group B runner-up.
India headlines Group 2, and will face Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Group B winner, and Group A runner-up.
The two best teams from each group will then head to the semifinals, scheduled for November 9 and 10, which is in a straight knockout format. The semifinal winners will then head for the final battle on November 13 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Also read: Key dates in the T20 World Cup 2022
Venues
Seven cities will host the 16 teams in the T20 World Cup. The venues are MCG (Melbourne), SCG (Sydney), Adelaide Oval (Adelaide), The Gabba (Brisbane), Kardinia Park (Geelong), Bellerive Oval (Hobart), and Optus Stadium (Perth).
New Rules
The T20 World Cup 2022 will be the first ICC tournament where the new rules will kick in. There are five key regulations players will have to abide by:
1) Non-Striker Run Out
This has been a controversial subject over the last two years and is very topical at the moment. Running out a non-striker, often known as 'Mankading', has split fans down the middle, with many feeling it is an unfair mode of dismissal.
However, from this T20 World Cup onwards, it will no longer be termed as 'Mankading'. The ICC has officially changed the mode of dismissal to 'Run Out'. While the legality of this dismissal was never in doubt, some fans questioned its morality.
With this name change, the mode of dismissal has now been normalised, giving bowlers the greenlight to punish non-strikers who take liberties.
2) Crossing over after dismissal
From the T20 World Cup onwards, the new batsman will have to take strike after a wicket has fallen regardless of the mode of dismissal. Earlier, batsmen could cross over and change strike in the process of being dismissed, thereby handing over the strike to their batting partners.
Now, however, ICC has ensured that the new batsmen coming in will take strike, regardless of whether the earlier batting partners crossed over during the dismissal.
3) Slow over-rate penalty
Fielding teams will now be penalised in-game if they do not keep up with the over rate. ICC has put in place a rule where teams guilty of slow over rate will be forced to place one extra fielder within the 30-yard circle. This opens up the boundary for the batting team, giving them an advantage.
For example, if the bowling team fails to start their 16th over at the scheduled time, they can only have four fielders outside the circle as opposed to five, which they are allowed to keep after the powerplay overs. The bowling team will have to keep this extra fielder until the end of the innings or if they are able to catch up with the scheduled time, whichever comes first.
4) Dead ball
If a batsman attempts to play a delivery that bounces outside the playing area (pitch), then some part of his body should stay within the playing area. If the batsman is forced to step out of the playing area to play his shot, then the umpires will signal 'dead ball'.
5) Distracting fielder
Fielders who attempt to distract batsmen with 'unfair movements' while the bowler delivers the ball will be penalised. Umpires will call 'dead ball' if they notice fielders unfairly moving prior to the completion of a ball delivery.
Prize Money
ICC has not changed the prize money from last year's edition. The entire purse remains at USD 5.6 million, with the winners collecting USD 1.6 million; the losing finalist receiving USD 800,000; the losing semi-finalists each getting USD 400,000; while the remaining 12 teams will receive a share of the rest.
Squads
Below are the final squads for the 16 teams, as of October 15, with replacements for injured players.
Namibia: Gerhard Erasmus (c), J.J. Smit, Divan la Cock, Stephan Baard, Nicol Loftie Eaton, Jan Frylinck, David Wiese, Ruben Trumpelmann, Zane Green, Bernard Scholtz, Tangeni Lungameni, Michael van Lingen, Ben Shikongo, Karl Birkenstock, Lohan Louwrens, Helao Ya France.
Netherlands: Scott Edwards (c), Colin Ackermann, Shariz Ahmad, Logan van Beek, Tom Cooper, Brandon Glover, Timm van der Gugten, Fred Klaassen, Bas de Leede, Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe, Stephan Myburgh, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O’Dowd, Tim Pringle, Vikram Singh.
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera (subject to fitness), Lahiru Kumara (subject to fitness), Dilshan Madushanka, Pramod Madushan. Standby Players: Ashen Bandara, Praveen Jayawickrema, Dinesh Chandimal, Binura Fernando, Nuwanidu Fernando.
United Arab Emirates: C.P. Rizwan (c), Vriitya Aravind, Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, Basil Hameed, Aryan Lakra, Zawar Farid, Kashif Daud, Karthik Meiyappan, Ahmed Raza, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Sabir Ali, Alishan Sharafu, Aayan Khan. Standby Players: Sultan Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Vishnu Sukumaran, Adithya Shetty, Sanchit Sharma.
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Fionn Hand, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Conor Olphert, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Graham Hume.
Scotland: Richard Berrington (c), George Munsey, Michael Leask, Bradley Wheal, Chris Sole, Chris Greaves, Safyaan Sharif, Josh Davey, Matthew Cross, Calum MacLeod, Hamza Tahir, Mark Watt, Brandon McMullen, Michael Jones, Craig Wallace.
West Indies: Nicholas Pooran (c), Rovman Powell, Yannic Cariah, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cottrell, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Obed Mccoy, Raymon Reifer, Odean Smith, Shamarh Brooks.
Zimbabwe: Craig Ervine (c), Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Sean Williams. Standby Players: Tanaka Chivanga, Innocent Kaia, Kevin Kasuza, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Victor Nyauchi.
Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Qais Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Salim Safi, Usman Ghani. Standby Players: Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib.
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Alex Hales. Standby Players: Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tymal Mills.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips, Jimmy Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Martin Guptill, Lachlan Ferguson, Devon Conway, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Trent Boult, Finn Allen.
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Nurul Hasan, Afif Hossain, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Litton Das, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shoriful Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Musaddek Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Yasir Ali Chowdhury. Reserves: Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Saifuddin
India: Rohit Sharma (c), K.L. Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami. Standby Players: Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood. Standby Players: Usman Qadir, Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, Reeza Hendricks, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Rillee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen. Standby Players: Bjorn Fortuin, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lizaad Williams.
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