The T20 Cricket Cup 2022 is about it kick off in Australia, there is much anticipation, excitement, and nervousness all mixed up in a bag of emotion for both the players and the fans. This will be the eighth edition of the T20 Cricket Cup ever since it first started back in 2007 when India won the inaugural tournament.
Talking about this year’s event many of the teams will be looking for a resurgence while other few have their goals set on the prized trophy. The front runners so far are the hosts Australia, The Asian Cricket Cup 2022 winners Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand and to some extent team India.
The big four (Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and India) are sure to take the limelight as they have all it takes to win the trophy. India might not look like the most promising team but with the talent the team has, they sure can give every team a run for their money. Let us try and find out how the key players from these four favored teams fair off against each other.
India: The Men in blue have a plethora of options in the batting department and not to mention the depth in the middle order they have. Players like H. Pandya, D.Karthik, and A.Patel will ensure India bats deep. However, the spotlight will be on V.Kohli and R.Sharma who are expected the team to guide them to certain glory. The bowling department does have frailties and uncertainty but the availability of B.Kumar and H.patel alongside Y.Chahal is a good combination to have.
Pakistan: The arch-rival of India will be relying heavily on B. Azam and M.Rizwan in the batting although they do have the backing of M.Nawaz, I.Ahmed, and K. Shah to take their batting deep. It is the return of S. Afridi that is the big boost for the team, H.Rauf, and N.Shah further strengthen the pace bowling attack for Pakistan which has been a potent attack for them. Both India and Pakistan will be in action on 23rd October at Melbourne where excitement and entertainment will hit its peak.
Sri Lanka: The Sri Lankan team winning the Asian Cricket Cup 2022 is the story of cricket so far this year and the islanders would want to continue scripting history in the T20 Cricket Cup. P.Nissanka and K.Mendis are the leading batters for the side, while B. Rajapaksa has proved his worth with his bat and surely has to be amongst the best batters for his team. The trump card for the Lankans is W.Hasaranga who has time and again webbed his magic, he will be a tricky customer for the above-mentioned batting heavyweights, and surely the fans will be treated to top-class cricket action when such players collide.
Australia: The hosts are the reigning champions and having to play in their own backyard is an added bonus to them. T.David and A.Finch are mighty big obstacles for any bowling unit and to back that up they do have the backing of David. Warner and G.Maxwell who can turn the game on their heads. Needless to say, the Aussies have one of the best records when it comes to tournaments. However, there is a big record that stands in the way of Australia is that no host team has ever won the T20 Cricket Cup title, this indeed will be a historic win if they do manage to win the trophy.
Apart from this, there have been some major changes in the rules of the game. Let us have a look at what are the changes made and how will it affect the game.
1. Run-out at the non-striker’s end is legal – As mentioned in the rule book this form of dismissal was always in the game and in the relevant sections of the cricket law this form of run-out was deemed legal. There has been a lot of noise regarding the same, especially from the English cricketers it will be indeed interesting to see how this law comes into play at the T20 World Cup.
2. In-match-over penalty – The teams are now assigned a specific time period to bowl their 20 overs. If the team fails to do so they will have to play an additional fielder inside the circle for the remaining overs of their innings. This change was evident at the Asian Cricket Cup 2022 tournament and to an extent, it did decide the fate of the game.
3. New batter will come at the striker’s end – When the batter is caught out, the new batter will come at the striker’s end regardless if they crossed the pitch or not for a run. Previously if the batters had crossed the pitch before the catch was taken the new batter would take place at the non-striker end thus a settled batter then took the striker end to face the next deliveries.
4. Unfair movement by fielders – Any movement deemed unfair and deliberate by fielders while a bowler is running into a bowl now results in the umpire awarding five penalty runs to the batting side, in addition to the delivery being a dead ball. Although the fielders can take a run-up and build momentum in following the shot of the batter. It is also worth noting that it is within the law for a fielder to move in reaction to a shot a batter is playing mid-delivery.
5. Striker’s right to play the ball – The batter will now have to ensure that some part of the bat or their body is inside the pitch. If they go beyond the limits the umpire will signal that as a dead ball. However, this law also has a provision for batters, if the bowlers in their attempt to stop the batter force them to play outside the pitch then that ball will be considered a no-ball and a free hit will be signaled by the umpire.
