T20 WORLD CUP
The countdown begins
The ICC T20 World Cup is to be played in October and November this year. Though the tournament is scheduled to be hosted by India, there are doubts as to whether it will be possible to play on Indian soil because of COVID-19 – and the UAE, which has the capacity to accommodate such events, is being considered as an alternative.
In any event, Sri Lanka – who were once champions – will find this T20 World Cup to be a new experience. Along with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka have been added to a qualifying round with minnows PNG, Ireland, the Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland and Oman.
While I have absolute faith in Sri Lanka’s ability to qualify, let’s not forget that T20 is a game that can deliver far more surprises than any of the other formats. It’s short and fast; and one bad over can turn the tide against you.
Sri Lanka will be aware of this even though their chances of qualifying are high given the quality of players they have. The qualifiers will feature eight teams in two groups with the top two nations from each segment going through to the tournament proper.
The T20 World Cup itself will see 12 teams playing – with the top eight teams (Pakistan, India, England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies and even Afghanistan) already in the draw.
Indeed, Sri Lanka Cricket and our fans will be smarting to see the Afghans in the top eight instead of the Sri Lankans. However, in fairness to Afghanistan, the country has won far more T20 matches in the recent past than Sri Lanka.
Let’s get back to the format of the T20 World Cup. Once the four teams from the qualifiers join the top eight, the 12 teams will be divided into two groups. And the top four teams in each group will play in the semi-finals and their winners in the final. It should be noted that both stages of the tournament will be in a round robin format.
Judging by the current form, it’s a touch too early to predict the final outcome but my thinking is that England, India, Australia and possibly Pakistan could be the semi-finalists though the Kiwis may be considered outsiders.
It seems that England stand head and shoulders above the others because they’ve won T20 games against almost every cricketing nation and have a truly well-balanced all-round unit. India and Australia are my next two favourites – in this order.
As a result of their match winners moving out – with only Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard left in terms of proven quality – the West Indies will struggle to match the top sides. And that’s why it seems improbable that the former champions will progress beyond the first round.
In terms of talent to watch out for, I’m tempted to pick Dasun Shanaka as a possible captain of Sri Lanka by the time the World Cup begins. His ability to strike the ball is supported by him hitting 10 sixes in an innings on two occasions – so far, Chris Gayle is the only player to have done better on this score.
Nicholas Pooran (who is being called the next Chris Gayle) is another player to watch out for while Babar Azam has yet to play in a T20 World Cup despite his exploits with the bat. One other player I’d add to this list is Hardik Pandya for his outstanding all-round skills.
While there may be a few more that we could add along the way, these gentlemen are my favourites for this year’s T20 Word Cup.