Sun, 03 Nov, 2024

ICC World Cup T20 2016

By Mahan Adhikari

Picture Courtesy: icct20worldcup2016schedule.com After the interval of 2 years the most awaited cricket tournament has finally arrived. The ICC T20 World Cup is going to be held in India from 8th of March to 3rd of April. This is the 6th edition of ICC World Cup and this is the first time that India is hosting it. Similar to the 2014 World Cup 16 teams are participating on this event. 10 out of the 16 teams qualified because of their status as full members of International Cricket Council while the other 6 teams qualified through the ICC T20 qualifiers. The T20 World Cup is one of the most watched and enjoyed event in cricket. As the format of T20 is the shortest format of cricket, most people enjoy being a part of it. This World Cup is going to be held in 7 different cities in India and the finals will take place in the almighty Eden Gardens, Kolkata. India, Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe are the members of International Cricket Council while Scotland, Ireland, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Afghanistan, Oman are the countries qualified from the qualifiers. Among these countries Oman is the only debuting team. David Boon, Chris Broad, Javagal Srinath, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Richie Richardson and Andy Pycroft are the members of Elite Panel of ICC referees and they share the match referees responsibilities throughout the tournament. The first part of the World Cup will start from warm up matches divided into 2 group; Group A consisting Oman, Bangladesh, Netherlands and Ireland and Group B consisting of Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong and Scotland.  Till date 3 matches from Group A and 4 matches from Group B have happened which have resulted in the elimination of Netherland, Scotland and Hong Kong. The winners of both these groups will join the 10 teams in the fight for the title. This event has a prize money of $5.6 million which is 86 % increase from the 2014 World Cup. World Cup this year is grander, bigger and more exciting. Each country will surely work hard to win this tournament only for the money but also for the glory and pride. Each participating country has announced a team of 15 and the World Cup’s real race will start from a match between New Zealand and India on 12th of March. Sri Lanka is the defending champion and West Indies the 2012 champion. Supporters from all around the world are flying to India to support their countries.