The T20 World Cup 2022 is about two months away and will be played in Australia from October 16 to November 13. This is the second of the back-to-back T20 World Cups in consecutive years after it was played last year in the UAE.
The tournament will start with a preliminary first round, between October 16 and 21, which involved 8 teams competing for four spots in the main round, the Super 12.
The two groups in the Super 12 are as follows:
Group 1: Australia, New Zealand, England, Afghanistan, A1, B2
Group 2: India, Pakistan, South Africa, Bangladesh, B1, A2
The top two teams from each of the Super 12 groups will battle out in the knockouts – two Semi-finals that will be played in Sydney and Adelaide. The winners of the two semis will contest the final on November 13 at the MCG.
Here are 5 interesting facts about the T20 World Cup 2022 that fans must know:
Australia were supposed to host the T20 WC in 2020!
Australia were, in fact, slated to host the 2020 T20 World Cup. But due to the pandemic, where it was not plausible to host 16 teams at the same time, not only the event was pushed back, but also Australia opted out of hosting the tournament that year and then it was decided that the competition will be played in Australia in 2022.
India were already planning to host the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup. And Australia’s decision didn’t deter them. However, the second wave of the virus in India, which already halted the IPL 2021 mid-season, forced the BCCI to move out of the 2021 tournament to the UAE.
Australia have opportunity to become first team to defend their T20 World Cup title
Now that Aaron Finch’s side will play the T20 World Cup 2022, they are provided with a golden opportunity to become the first team in the history of the tournament to successfully defend their T20 World Cup crown. Australia are a beast in their home conditions and will eye a place in the history books.
Only West Indies have won the T20 World Cup twice – in 2012 and 2016, separated by the 2014 World Cup, which Sri Lanka won.
Sri Lanka and West Indies in the preliminary first round!
Talking about Sri Lanka and West Indies, the two former T20 World Cup champions, have fallen dramatically over the years. So much so that they failed to qualify directly for the Super 12 round of the 2022 T20 World Cup and will first have to compete in the Preliminary round.
Sri Lanka are in Group A with Namibia, Netherlands and UAE, while Group B comprises West Indies, Zimbabwe, Scotland and Ireland. The Lankans were last year also in this situation but won all three matches in this round.
7 venues will host the T20 World Cup 2022
Unlike in the UAE where there were only three venues to host the entire tournament, a total of 7 venues are slotted to host the T20 World Cup 2022 – the Preliminary round will be played in Geelong and Hobart, which will also host a few Super 12 games; Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne are the other cities – with the MCG host to the India-Pakistan clash and also the Final.
Players to have played in all 7 T20 World Cup; who will play their 8th tournament?
A total of 653 different players have played in the T20 World Cup over the years. Only six of them have featured in all 7 tournaments so far: Rohit Sharma, Shakib Al Hasan, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim. Of these, Bravo has retired from international cricket and Gayle isn’t playing anymore for West Indies, while the other four are likely to feature in this year’s tournament.
