The T20 World Cup in Australia will see the leading nations in cricket compete in the most exciting format of the sport. Over four weeks, there will be 45 games, in what is a busy schedule for the ICC event.
Here is a look at the leading contender for the T20 World Cup.
Australia
Australia goes into their home tournament as the defending champions, after beating New Zealand in the final of the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup. They had wins over South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, West Indies, and Pakistan before the final in the UAE.
A dominant performance from our Aussie men in Colombo, finishing with a 10-wicket victory to kick off the Qantas tour of Sri Lanka!
Josh Hazlewood (4/16) was awarded player of the match, while David Warner (70*) and Aaron Finch (61*) shared a 134 run opening partnership #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/IpgPlq9ePc
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) June 8, 2022
Many of Australia’s stars of 2021 return for their country in this sports event. They have a strong batting line-up, with the likes of David Warner, Aaron Finch, and Steve Smith, while with the ball, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Pat Cummins will feature.
As of the 19th of September, Australia are the +300 joint-favorites with Betway to lift the trophy in front of their home supporters at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
England
Former winners England suffered a blow earlier this summer as Jonny Bairstow was ruled out of the 2022 T20 World Cup. The ECB selectors have opted to recall Alex Hales into the team, and with the amount of success the opener has had in the Big Bash in Australia, that could prove to be a smart move.
As the BBC reported, England won the Cricket World Cup at Lord’s in 2019. It is seen as one of the leading contenders for this white-ball tournament. Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, and Ben Stokes give the team a lot of firing power with the bat, while they also have experience with the ball with Mark Wood, Chris Jordan, and Chris Woakes.
Results have not been great for England during the summer in T20 cricket, but they will be feared by all the leading nations now they have their leading players fit again.
India
India is the highest-ranked team in the ICC T20 rankings. They are the only team in the world with over 10,000 points in those standings. The inaugural winners have had series wins over the West Indies, Ireland, England, and Sri Lanka in 2022.
Rohit Sharma will lead a strong team that includes Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya. The one disappointment for India is that Ravindra Jadeja is out with an injury. He has been one of the best all-rounders in world cricket this year so that comes as a blow.
India will feel they fell short of expectations in the Asia Cup earlier leading into the T20 World Cup. They failed to make the final following defeats to Pakistan and Sri Lanka. That is likely to spur them on to perform much better when they travel to Australia.
Pakistan
Asia Cup runners-up Pakistan will be hoping to go one place better in their next competition. They have reached two T20 World Cup finals. They were beaten by India in 2007, while two years later, they got their hands on the trophy following success against Sri Lanka.
Mohammad Rizwan and captain Babar Azam both sit in the top three of the ICC T20 international batting rankings. Those two players have a lot of experience in this format of the game, and they will be looking to get their country off to a fast start in their innings.
Pakistan will test themselves against England in a seven-match series before the tournament in Australia. That should ensure they begin the competition sharpened up.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka caused a big upset at the Asia Cup by winning the tournament for the first time since 2014, as reported by Reuters. They produced a fantastic performance in the final to defeat Pakistan, despite being the underdogs in that game.
Unlike past Sri Lanka teams, there are not many household names in the squad. The country has been rebuilding its team over the last few years. Their success in the UAE should give them confidence in this format of the game.
What an exceptional innings under pressure! 🙌#RoaringForGlory #SLvPAK pic.twitter.com/unwSvijlJx
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) September 11, 2022
Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the hero for Sri Lanka with the bat in the final of the Asia Cup. He is going to be a key player for them if they are to have more success in Australia.
The opening game of the 2022 T20 World Cup takes place on October 16 when Sri Lanka faces Namibia.
