The T20 World Cup

The T20 World Cup is a men’s cricket tournament that happens once every four years. Let's look into what cricket is in the first place, who has a good shot at winning, and a bit of my personal opinion.

First of all, what is cricket? Cricket is a sport similar to baseball. Each team bats and pitches, except in cricket, it's called batting and bowling. An “over” contains 6 balls (pitches). Each team gets 20 overs to bat, and then the other team gets the same. It’s like the whole game is one big inning. Each team gets 11 batters and can bat until the end of the 20 overs. They will also stop batting if all 11 batters get out. 

You can score runs multiple ways. You can hit the ball in any direction (unlike baseball) and then run between two sets of wickets (three sticks behind the batter) on either side of the pitch. There are two batters on the pitch at all times, one hitting and one standing on the other side, so you have to coordinate when to run. Otherwise you could get out! Runners cannot be on the same side at the same time. Every time you and your partner switch sides is one run. You can also hit it to the boundary of the field. If it’s on the ground when it hits the boundary, it’s four runs, though if it flies over the boundary, it’s six runs.

 There are also a few ways batters can get out. First of all, they can get bowled out. This happens when the bowler throws the ball and it hits the wickets. Another way a batter can get out is if their hit gets caught in the air. Other common ways to get out are getting a hit wicket, a run out, or a leg before wicket (LBW). A hit wicket is when any part of the batter or their bat touches the wicket. A run out is when you are running and the set of wickets you are running to gets hit by the ball before you get there. And finally, a LBW is when a ball is bowled and it hits the batter's leg in front of the wickets. 

Next, let's talk about the format of the T20 World Cup. There are twenty teams in the cup. They will be divided into four groups of five, and the top two teams from each group will advance to the super eight phase. These are, as the name suggests, the top eight teams. The teams that advance to the super eight phase will be split into two groups of four. The top two teams of each of those groups will then advance to the semifinals and then the finals.

Now, let's see who the giants of this tournament are. First of all, we have Australia, which won last year’s one-day international world cup, or ODI. India was undefeated until they faced Australia in the finals, where they lost, which was very disappointing to me because I woke up at 3:30am for that match. Australia are looking strong again and will be very tough competition.

Next we have my favorite, which is India. In T20, the strategy is to bat very fast and not worry too much about getting out. This year, India has some very explosive players, which in cricket terms means batters who make a lot of runs in a very short time, so I'm hopeful for a win.

England did win the last T20 world cup in 2022, so they could also bring a fight. (That world cup should have been in 2020, but it was delayed due to COVID.) However, nobody knows how strong they will be two years later.

And finally, very exciting news. The United States is playing in the 2024 T20 World Cup for the first time in history! Tune in on June 1st to watch the first game, USA vs Canada. The game will be streamed on Willow TV, Hulu, Hotstar, and Disney+. The world cup will also be co hosted by the USA and the West Indies. I’m excited and I hope you are too!