When it comes to international cricket competitions, the one cricket fans all over the world look forward to the most is the T20 World Cup. Now, we are not saying that the 50-over World Cup is not popular, it definitely is, it is just that T20 cricket has gone on to become the most popular format of this sport, much to the chagrin of those who consider themselves to be cricket connoisseurs. The next T20 World Cup will be held in India in October 2024, and we cannot wait.
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The Tournament Was Originally Scheduled for 2024
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This tournament was originally due to happen in Australia in October 2024, but the current pandemic situation swiftly put paid to that. As a result, the International Cricket Council told the cricketing world in July that the tournament would be put back a year. Furthermore, it would no longer be hosted by Australia, it would be hosted by India instead. Australia, the ICC announced, would host another T20 World Cup in 2024, which is great news for us cricket fans as we get to watch the world’s best T20 players fight it out to be crowned as champions of the world.
Plenty to Bet On
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There will definitely be a lot of entertainment for cricket fans, and we are pretty certain that there will be sixes and fours galore. However, the entertainment levels do not have to stop here as you can increase them further by placing bets on the games. Like with all cricket games, you can place bets on the team that you think will win (discussed below), the team that will win a certain game, the number of sixes hit in a match, the best bowler in the match, the best batsman in the match, the number of runs scored in a game, and so on. As you can see, there are more than enough cricket betting markets to keep you thoroughly entertained. We only advise you to find a reputable betting or online casino site through a review site like casinos-india.in.
The Teams That Will be Participating at the 2024 World Cup
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The top 9 ranked ICC members and India (as hosts) will take part in the 2024 tournament. From these ten sides, the best eight were automatically sent through to the Super 12s stage, while the remaining two will start in the group stage, where they shall be joined by the six other teams that qualified via the World Cup Qualifiers that took place in 2019. The eight teams in the group stage will play each other once, and the top four sides will qualify for the Super 12s stage.
The ten teams that are already in the Super 12s stage are England, India, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanistan, and the West Indies. The eight teams that will be battling it out in the group stage are Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Oman, Namibia, and the Netherlands.
Who Are Favorites to Lift the Trophy?
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It is not actually easy to predict who will win the trophy as any of the big teams can beat any of the other big teams on their day. In a game that lasts just twenty overs per side, the teams that nobody would give a chance of winning can cause some tasty surprises. This is what makes this format of the game so exciting for many cricket fans. For example, we do not think that many people would have bet on the West Indies to lift the trophy in 2016.
However, having said that, bookies have to have favorites and the hosts are the early favorites to win the trophy with odds of 3.50. They are closely followed by England and Australia who have odds of 5.00. The West Indies and New Zealand have odds of 11.00, while the likes of Pakistan and Sri Lanka have odds of 13.00. We actually think that the odds for a Pakistan win are quite high when you consider the bowling attack they have as well as their talented batsmen.
Why Do Some Cricket Fans Look Down Upon the 20/20 Format?
The main reason why there are some cricket fans who cannot take to the T20 format is that they believe that it just does not have much skill involved. They feel that the pitches are often made completely flat and devoid of movement so that the batsmen can just stand on the crease, swing the bat as hard as they can, and try to dispatch ball after ball after ball into the crowd.
Those who dismiss this format of the game as being “not cricket” often declare that any batsman can go out, swing the bat, get lucky and get some runs. Where is the fun in that? Furthermore, they also feel sorry for the bowlers as they often have to bowl on lifeless pitches and just get dispatched around the field.
They often compare it to the skill levels that are required to play Test cricket. In the 5-day form of the game, players need to be mentally and physically strong. A batsman could find himself battling for 10 hours straight, so he will need the fitness levels to continue to run between the wickets as well as very good concentration levels to ensure that he does not make a silly mistake. Bowlers, on the other hand, need to ensure that their bodies are capable of bowling a lot of overs each day, instead of just the 4 overs in a T20 match or the 10 overs in an ODI.
We agree that you need superior skill levels to play test cricket, but T20 cricket was created to entertain the masses, and that is exactly what it does. It is not going anywhere anytime soon.
