T20 cricket’s biggest global event – the T20 World Cup – will begin on Saturday, June 1. This will be the first-ever cricket World Cup held in North America, with the United States and the West Indies as its joint hosts. The choice of venue presents excitement all by itself.
Canada and the USA – the oldest rivals in the sport – will play each other in the first game of the tournament, which is slated to be played at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, TX. Twenty teams will compete in the tournament, vying for top honours.
Arch-rivals India and Pakistan have been placed in the same group (Group A) and will play each other in a historic encounter in New York on June 9 at the Nassau County International Stadium. Ireland, Canada, and the United States are the other teams in the group.
Another set of old rivals – England and Australia – find themselves in the same group and will vie for the top two spots along with Namibia, Scotland, and Oman. Their group will be interesting to watch in case either England or Australia stumbles in between.
The group of death in this World Cup is surely Group D, in which South Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, and Nepal are pitted against each other. Apart from Nepal, all four teams in this group will be favourites to challenge for a top-two spot. Group C, too, has Afghanistan, New Zealand, and the West Indies.
This tournament will add to the excitement after the end of the Indian Premier League last weekend. The conditions in the USA and the West Indies will be worth keeping an eye out on, given that they are known to spin well. Fans will watch this tournament widely across the world.
