After a contentious build-up marred by political unrest, cricket’s T20 World Cup gets underway on Saturday. Bangladesh was eliminated, while Pakistan declined to play their archrivals and co-hosts, India.
After an exciting lead-up, Pakistan will play the Netherlands in the tournament opener in Colombo when the first ball is eventually bowled.
With the aspirations of more than a billion cricket fans at home, defending champions and tournament favorites India will make their tournament debut against the United States in Mumbai on the first day of the tournament.
India, under Suryakumar Yadav, will begin as clear tournament favorites and should advance easily from Group A to the Super Eight stage. However, the United States, who startled Pakistan by qualifying for the Super Eights in 2024, will be a threat to them as they aim to defeat another cricketing giant.
Strong candidates to win the trophy and deprive defending champion India of the crown for a record-tying second consecutive time are former winners Australia and England. The absence of pace spearhead Pat Cummins, who was sidelined due to a lower back injury, has severely hurt Australia, the 2021 winners.
Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood has also been ruled out due to Achilles and hamstring injuries. The Australians, led by Mitchell Marsh, should easily advance from Group B against Ireland, whom they face first on Wednesday, as well as co-hosts Sri Lanka, Oman, and Zimbabwe.
After winning the T20 series 3-0 in Sri Lanka this week, Harry Brook’s England are confident and could advance to the Super Eights from Group C, which also includes Scotland, Italy, Nepal, and two-time champion West Indies.
For the first time since taking Jos Buttler’s place as white ball skipper, Brook, who is under a lot of pressure after having to issue an apology for an incident involving a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand last year, is in control of a worldwide competition. The 2010 and 2022 tournament winners England, begin Sunday’s play in Mumbai against Nepal.
After been called up at the last minute to replace Bangladesh, Scotland will be on guard on the opening day when they play the West Indies in Kolkata. With their first-ever appearance in a cricket World Cup, football powerhouse Italy will play the Scots in Kolkata on Monday.
The 2024 runners-up, South Africa, are encouraged by their victory in the World Test Championship last year despite never having won a white ball World Cup. They will pose a threat, but they must first overcome a formidable Group D that includes formidable opponents from Afghanistan and New Zealand.
They start against Canada in Ahmedabad on Monday. The other team in that group is the United Arab Emirates. Each of the four groups of five teams will have two teams that place in the top two, and the top four will go to the semi-finals.
Weeks of political posturing have dominated the build-up to the 10th edition of the showcase competition, so it will be a relief when the action finally starts this weekend.
Bangladesh was expelled from Group C by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and their ties worsened after they declined to play in India, citing security concerns.
The Islamabad government allowed Pakistan to play after supporting Bangladesh’s request to have their matches shifted to Sri Lanka, but they prohibited the squad from participating in the highly anticipated group match against bitter rivals India on February 15. Media reports state that the ICC is still awaiting official word from the Pakistan Cricket Board regarding the boycott, which leaves the possibility of a last-minute agreement to play the match open.
Pakistan’s net run rate will suffer and they will lose two points if India is given a walkover victory. Pakistan may have little chance of qualifying if the rain affects any of their next three Group A matches.
Fans on both sides would be extremely disappointed by Pakistan’s withdrawal, which will cost broadcasters millions of dollars in income. Political tensions between the neighbors increased last month when the Indian cricket board ordered the Kolkata Knight Riders of the IPL to remove Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman.
There will be a final on March 8 in Ahmedabad or Colombo, depending on whether Pakistan advances that far in the event.
