In an interesting turn of events, ICC T20 World Cup 2021 will be hosted by India. This will be the 7th edition of the T20 Cricket World Cup since its inception in 2007. The Cricket T20 World Cup is scheduled between October 2021 and November 2021. This World Cup was supposed to take place in 2020, but it was shifted to 2021 due to coronavirus. f
Now, we have a continuous T20 world cup in 2021 and 2022. Another interesting fact is that this T20 World Cup 2021 will replace Champions Trophy 2021. ICC announced this in April 2021. With IPL 2021 before the T20 World, this is going to be a thrilling T20 World Cup.
ICC Cricket T20 WC 2021 Format:
The world is divided into three formats. First is Qualifiers, where the bottom eight teams are divided into two groups. Two teams from each group will join the top 8 rank teams in the next format.
Then, we will have 12 Teams in Super 12, which are divided into two groups again. Each team will play five matches. The Top two teams from each group will qualify for the Semi-final. Then, the winner of each semi-final will face each other in the final.
This is pretty straight forward which promises lots of thrilling matches, and the best team will qualify for the knockout stage. So, the stage is set for a wonderful Cricket T20 World Cup.
How did India retain the rights?
ICC hasn’t officially given any statement as to why the ICC T20 World Cup was shifted to India. However, many reports suggest that the Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings said his board would not be able to commit the Australian government’s support to host the tournament in 2021. Eddings said that Cricket Australia is comfortable hosting the tournament in 2021.
This made the decision for the IBC (Members of the ICC Board) much easier. As such global event require government backing, and ICC needs a guaranteed undertaking from the host board.
It is also believed that Sourav Ganguly, BCCI president, said his board was confident it would get the support of the Indian government. This helped IBC make its decision to retain India as the hosts of the Cricket T20 World Cup 2021.
ICC T20 World Cup 2021 Team Analysis:
A total of 16 teams would be participating in ICC T20 World Cup. We will analyse each team and their T20 world cup odds. So, let’s begin:
We begin with the associated nations such as Papua New Guinea, Oman, Namibia, Scotland, Netherlands, Ireland and Afghanistan. Although these teams have made a lot of process in the past few years, Afghanistan has the strongest chance to make an impact. While Scotland and Ireland can also make an upset.
Similarly, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have decent teams. It is hard to see them making it into the semis. The remaining seven teams can be put into two brackets in accordance with winning the ICC T20 World Cup. South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Pakistan will have to go in the second bracket.
South Africa cricket is rising, but it lacks the big names it had in the past. New Zealand and Australia have good t20 teams, but both teams lack power hitters in the middle order. This will be the downfall for both teams. Pakistan is very unpredictable; they can either crash before the semis or win the whole tournament.
The top 3 favourites for ICC T20 World Cup are India, England, and West Indies. England are obvious favourites as the reigning ODI World Cup Champion. Plus, they have a team that can bat up to number 9. Similarly, India is the host nation, and they have a plethora of young talents. Plus, the most lethal T20 bowling unit in the world.
However, the one to look out for is West Indies. They have all-rounders and power hitter all around the squad. Their recent performance against Sri Lanka speaks for itself. In many expert’s T20 World Cup prediction, WI is winning the tournament again.
ICC T20 World Cup History
This is the 7th edition of the ICC T20 World Cup. The first T20 WC was hosted by South Africa, which witnesses an epic final between India and Pakistan. India won that day, but Pakistan had their revenge in 2009 when they beat Sri Lanka in England.
The next world was in 2010 in WI, which saw England decimating Australia in the final. 2012 saw a resurgent West Indies beat Sri Lanka in Colombo. Sri Lanka had their revenge in 2014 against India. The most memorable T20 WC was in 2016 when Carlos Braithwaite hit stokes for four sixes to seal the second title for the Windies.
ICC T20 WC 2021 Odds
Now, let’s look at T20 cricket Odds; it is no surprise that India and England are the top two highest odds team to win the Cricket T20 World Cup. Australia and New Zealand follow them.
A relative safer bet is to bet on either West Indies or Pakistan to reach the semifinal. Both teams have low t20 world cup odds. Thus, you can bet on them to earn a big amount in the end.
ICC T20 WC 2021 Winner Prediction
It is very hard to make a T20 World Cup prediction as T20 have shown anything can happen. Even the likes of Afghanistan or Sri Lanka can reach the semis. However, fairy tales rarely happens in real life.
Thus, after looking at the t20 world cup odds. It is safe to say that England, India, West Indies, and Pakistan will make it to the knockouts. Pakistan will Knockout England while India will be too strong for WI. This would set up an epic India vs Pakistan Final.
This would be a thrilling ICC T20 World Cup final with Pakistan batting first. India would lose some early wickets, but Kohli would come into his own and take India home to win Cricket T20 World Cup 2021.
