The next edition of the T20 World Cup which will be played in 2024 will be played in a completely different format as compared to the last two seasons.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has revealed the new format for the marquee tournament which will be jointly hosted by USA and West Indies, with the former hosting their first global event.
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.
The top two teams from each of the four groups will progress to a 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.
As per ESPNCricinfo, with this, the first round that used to take before the Super 12 stage in 2021 and 2022 editions will now be done away with.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Eight stage, where all the teams will get divided into two groups of four each. The top two teams of these two groups will qualify for semifinal. Following this, the final will take place.
In the previous two editions of tournament in 2021 and 2022, the first round featured eight teams that came into the tournament through qualification and teams that finished between ninth and 12th position in previous T20 WC.
These eight teams were divided into two groups of four each. Top two teams from these two groups joined other teams in the Super 12 phase.
Twelve teams have qualified for the 2024 T20 World Cup. USA and West Indies attained automatically qualification as the hosts of the tournament. Reigning champions England, runners-up Pakistan, India, New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Netherlands have also qualified after finishing within the top eight of the 2022 edition.
Afghanistan and Bangladesh are the other two teams who have qualified as they were the next-best teams in the ICC T20I rankings on the cut-off date of November 14.
Eight spots are still up for grabs and will be taken through the qualifiers.
England are the current T20 World Cup champions, having beaten Pakistan in the final in Melbourne on November 13. With this, they won their 2nd ICC T20 World Cup title.
