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The eighth edition of the T20 World Cup 2022 was won by Jos Buttler’s England. The Three Lions beat Pakistan in the summit clash of the event to lift their second T20 WC title. A total of 20 teams took part in the event and the tournament was played in three rounds. While eight teams competed in the first round and four of them progressed to the Super 12s (the second round).
Four teams (the top two teams from the two groups) progressed to the semifinals (the knockout stage). The tournament was played in the same format in 2021 as well. However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is all set to introduce a brand-new format for the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup.
While the tournament will continue to be played in three rounds with 20 teams taking part in it, there is a change in how the first and second rounds will be played. Instead of the first round followed by the Super 12, like in 2021 and 2022, the 20 participating teams will be divided into four groups of five teams each in the 2024 tournament.
These 20 teams will compete in the group stage and the top two teams from all four groups will advance to the second round which will be called the Super Eight phase, where they will be further divided into two groups of four each. The top two teams in each of the two Super Eights groups will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be followed by the final.
In the last two editions of the T20 World Cup, the first round had two groups of four which included teams that entered the tournament through the qualifying pathway and teams that finished between ninth and 12th in the previous T20 World Cup. The top two teams from each group in the first round then joined the rest of the eight teams that had already qualified for the Super 12 stage.
12 out of 20 teams decided for 2024 T20 World Cup
Out of the 20 teams, 12 have already qualified for the biennial event scheduled to take place in 2024. The USA and West Indies qualified automatically as the hosts of the tournament. Reigning champions England along with Pakistan, India, New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the Netherlands have also qualified, having finished in the top eight of the 2022 edition.
Afghanistan and Bangladesh are the other two teams to book their berths, because they were the next best on ICC's T20I rankings on the cut-off date of November 14, 2022. The remaining eight spots will be decided through regional qualifiers.
