ICC announces new format for T20 World Cup 2024

The 2024 edition of the Men’s T20 World Cup slated to be played in the West Indies and the USA will have a different format from the last two editions. Unlike the first round, which took place in 2021 and 2022, 20 teams will participate in the tournament and will be divided into four groups of five teams each.

The top two teams from each group will qualify through to a Super 8 phase where the teams will be divided into two groups of four teams each. Then, the top two teams from each group will progress through to the semi-finals and followed by the final as reported by the ICC.

The last two editions of the tournament had a Round 1 stage, where eight teams were divided into two groups of four each with the two top teams, progressing through to the Super 12s.

Round 1 was played by teams who came into the tournament through the regional qualification pathway and the teams who finished between 9th to 12th in the previous T20 World Cup.

The two teams from each group then joined the already qualified teams for the Super 12 stage of the tournament. West Indies and the USA have automatically qualified being the hosts of the tournament.

2022 champions England, runners-up Pakistan, the losing semi-finalists India and New Zealand along with Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the Netherlands have already qualified for the 2024 World Cup after finishing in the top eight of the 2022 edition.

Bangladesh and Afghanistan have also qualified as they were the next best-ranked teams in the T20I rankings on the November 14, 2022 cut-off date. The remaining eight teams will be decided through the Regional Qualifiers.

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England are the defending champions of T20 World Cup

England are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated Pakistan in the final of the 2022 edition. While England were jolted early in the tournament with a defeat to Ireland, Pakistan had to rely on the Netherlands to help them seal their place in the knockouts.

Both England and Pakistan brought out their best games in the semi-final, beating India and New Zealand respectively to book a place in the final. In the final. Sam Curran's brilliant spell and Ben Stokes' half-century helped England chase the target of 138 and lift their second T20 World Cup title.