The United States of America is hosting ICC T20 World Cup 2024 for the first time in its history of sports. Of course, this is an encouraging step for sports, especially cricket, in a developed country like America. This event is being jointly organized with West Indies. The first session of this World Cup will start from June 1 in America, while the final will be played in Barbados, West Indies on June 29. The first match will be held between USA and Canada in Dallas. In the mega event, 20 teams will compete against each other to win a trophy.

In the first phase, 10 teams will play matches in America. These matches are scheduled in Dallas, Florida and New York while West Indies in Trinidad, Tobago, Guyana and Barbados. The 20 teams participating in the event have been divided into four groups. There are five teams in each group. The top two teams in each pool will qualify for the Super 8 stage. After which these 8 teams will be divided into two groups. And so, two teams from each of the two groups will qualify to play the semi-finals. Traditional rivals Pakistan and India have been placed in the same group. While the host USA team is also included in the same group. Teams of Pakistan and USA will face each other in New York on June 6, while teams of Pakistan and India will face each other on June 9. The match between Pakistan and Canada is scheduled on June 11 in New York, while Pakistan will play its final group match on June 16 at Florida's Central Brorward Park Stadium. In this regard, preparations for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in USA are going on in full swing. Work on the venue for the match between Pakistan and India in New York is also in full swing. A total of eight matches will be played in New York. Nassau County Stadium has a capacity of 34,000 fans. According to Head of Events Chris Tetley, great progress has been made in the construction of the venue. Fans will thoroughly enjoy these matches. According to Chief Executive Brad Jones, they are ready to welcome cricket fans from all over the world. It is expected that this stadium will have a house full.

Apart from other sports in the US, baseball has been very popular for decades. However the interest in cricket from a large number of Pakistani and Indian nationals living in the US over the years has played a major role in the popularity of the game. In recent years, the organization of cricket tournaments in different states of America has also attracted people towards cricket. Now American youth are also showing interest in this game which is an encouraging sign. On the other hand, if we look back at the history of cricket in America, it was played by British Colonists in North America by the start of the 18th century. Archived reference to Cricket played in America date from 1709. A Newyork newspaper from 1739 contains an advertisement for cricket players and in 1751 first officially documented match occured at Manhattan. So now cricket has become a popular sport in more or less 50 states of America.

It should be noted that in connection with the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 held for the first time in America, 20 teams have been divided into four groups, Pakistan, India, Ireland, Canada and host USA in Group A. England and Australia, Namibia, Scotland and Oman in Group B. Group C includes New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan, Uganda and Papua New Guinea and Group D includes South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Netherlands. Teams from Canada, Uganda and USA are participating in any ICC event for the first time. Earlier, 16 teams participated in the same event held in Australia in 2022, while this time 20 teams are getting the place to participate. Teams from USA and West Indies are directly participating in the matches as hosts. For this event, the top eight teams from the 2022 World Cup have already been declared qualified, while eight more teams have been declared eligible to play the tournament after going through the regional qualifiers. These teams include Ireland, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Canada, Nepal, Oman, Nabibia and Uganda. It should be noted that England, Pakistan, Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands are among the eight teams that have qualified for the 2022 event. While Afghanistan and Bangladesh are the qualifying teams who were among the top teams in the ICCT 20 ranking at the end of last year.

It is worth noting that the group matches of the ninth mega edition, which will start from June 1, will be completed by June 18. The Super Eight stage matches are scheduled from June 19 to 24. The semi-finals will be played on June 26 and 27 and the final for the title will be held on June 29 at Barbados, West Indies. It is expected that the biggest match of the mega event will be between the teams of Pakistan and India in which the stadium built in New York with a capacity of 34000 is expected to be a house full. The reason for this is that there is a large number of Pakistanis and Indian citizens residing in New York and nearby areas. Who are already preparing to watch this match. At the same time, in addition to the matches played by the United States against Pakistan and India, a large number of fans are also expected to attend the matches between England and Australia. As this is the first mega event of cricket in America, it is considered very important for the cricket fans of America especially the youth.

If we look at the records of the T20 World Cup, the first World Cup was won by India in 2007, Pakistan in 2009, England in 2010, West Indies in 2012 and 2016, Sri Lanka in 2014, Australia in 2021, and  England won the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup in Australia. The Pakistani team will play their third match against Canada on June 11, and their final group match against Ireland on June 16, after USA and arch-rival India. The Indian team will play their first match against Ireland on June 5, USA on June 12 and Canada on June 15. Indian team's three opening matches are scheduled in New York and the fourth match in Florida.

On the other hand, another traditional rival, England and Australia, will face each other in Barbados on June 8. The T20 World Cup is being held in West Indies for the first time since 2010. The teams of Pakistan and India have faced each other nine times in the T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, the Pakistani team has defeated the Indian team only once. Now, it is to be seen how far the Pakistani team fulfills the expectations in this event. New players are also performing well in the ongoing PSL season 9 in Pakistan. In such a situation, the responsibilities of the PCB selection committee have increased. The new PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has already said that now the teams will be based on merit. In this context, it can be expected that the team will also include new players having good performance. During the last year's World Cup in India, Pakistani players  suffered fitness problems due to which the team could not perform well. Pakistani fans have high expectations from the Pakistani team in this event to be held in America and West Indies. It has to be seen whether the Pakistani team meets the standards or not, and this event in America itself will have a good impact on the future of cricket in America or not.

Published in The Daily National Courier, March, 21 2024

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