The high-voltage cricket action will kick-start today as the first round of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's Twenty20 World Cup 2022 is all set to get off the ground in Australia.
Pakistan's national cricket squad has already flown to Australia from New Zealand to take part in the world's biggest cricket event. Pakistan won the Tri-nation series in New Zealand.
The 16-team mega cricket event will start today (October 16) and will continue for almost a month. The final of the tournament will be played on November 13 in Melbourne.
Teams have been equally divided into two groups. The first round will begin today and continue until the 21st. In this phase, eight teams will compete in the qualifier round to seek a spot in the Super 12 round.
Group A comprises the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, UAE and Namibia. Ireland, the West Indies, Scotland, and Zimbabwe are in Group B. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super 12 round.
Eight teams are already in the groups based on their rankings. Group 1 has Australia, England, New Zealand, and Afghanistan, while Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and South Africa are in Group 2.
This is the eighth edition of the T20 World Cup. Australia is hosting the global cricket tournament in seven cities—Melbourne, Geelong, Hobart, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide.
This is the first time Australia has hosted the grand tournament in the short format of cricket. Earlier, the country hosted the ODI World Cup in 1992 and 2015.
The first T20 cup was held in 2007 when India lifted the trophy. Two years back, Pakistan won the tournament in 2009. England became the champions in 2010, followed by the West Indies in 2012, Sri Lanka in 2014 and the West Indies again in 2016.
Australia are defending champions who will play their opening match against New Zealand - a repeat of last edition's final - at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The cricket authorities, including the ICC, are happy with the public excitement over the tournament. Tickets for most of the matches have already been sold.
The much-hyped match between Pakistan and India is also a sell-out. Over 90,000 fans will show up at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch the high-octane cricket action. Additionally, the authorities provided standing-room tickets, which were also sold out within ten minutes.
In a statement, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said it set aside $5.6 million as the total prize pool for the mega event. The winners will receive a whopping US$1.6 million, while the runners-up will be given $800,000. The teams losing in the semifinals will be awarded $400,000 each.
Namibia: Gerhard Erasmus (capt), JJ 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 (capt), 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 (capt), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka, Pramod Madushan
United Arab Emirates: C P Rizwan (capt), 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
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (capt), 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, Craig Young
Scotland: Richard Berrington (capt), 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 (capt), 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 (capt), 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
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