A comprehensive tactical guide to the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup
The ninth installment of the international T20 carnival has arrived, and this time, the juggernaut will be traveling to the Caribbean and American shores. Similar to the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2010, which was hosted by the West Indies, this will be the third edition of the competition in a four-year cycle. There are also some new unknowns that could influence the outcome of the tournament, as the United States is hosting its first ICC event.
Franchise T20 divisions are frequently utilized as laboratories for the testing of new ideas and innovations; however, they are most prominently displayed during global events such as the World Cup. The year 2023 witnessed a seismic transformation in the manner in which T20 is played and perceived, with the batters at the vanguard of the most recent revolution. The scoring rate in 2023 increased to 8.61 across the main T20 competitions (IPL, PSL, BBL, CPL, SA20, Hundred, BPL, T20 Blast, LPL, ILT20 & Super Smash). This is the highest rate of any calendar year among these tournaments, and it is presently at the same level in 2024.
In the 2023 edition, the PSL, CPL, T20 Blast, and IPL all achieved their greatest scoring rates in their history. The IPL has since surpassed this figure in the recent 2024 season, with an overall scoring rate of 9.56, the highest in any T20 tournament. The scoring rate in matches between Full Member nations has reached 8.59 since the 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup, the highest it has ever been between two World Cups. It is against this backdrop that the forthcoming World Cup will transpire.
The World Cup will be conducted on a grander scale and scope than ever before, with 20 teams participating and 55 matches being contested over the course of 29 days. The games will be distributed across nine locales, with the United States hosting 16 games and the West Indies hosting the remaining 39, which include all games from the Super Eight stage onward.
Four of the nine venues that have been identified are the residences of well-established CPL franchises (Bridgetown, Gros Islet, Providence, and Tarouba). These venues frequently host CPL and home Internationals for the West Indies. Nevertheless, Arnos Vale has not hosted any List A domestic games since the beginning of 2014, and the sole T20 event that has been played in North Sound since 2015 is the T20 World Cup America’s Qualifier in November 2021. There is some ambiguity regarding the conditions that the two venues will present, as they have only hosted 13 matches when combined.
Lauderhill is the eldest of the three American venues; however, it last hosted the CPL in 2018 and has only hosted a small number of T20s since then. Dallas, which hosted 12 games in the inaugural edition of the MLC last July, will also host four matches, as will Florida. The remaining eight games will be contested at the new pop-up venue in New York.
Note: The statistics encompass all bilaterals that involve West Indies and CPL contests from April 2021, unless otherwise specified. All statistics are accurate as of May 26, 2024. Matches played in the United Arab Emirates are not taken into account for the IPL and PSL.
The influence of the eyes
28 of the 55 games will be played during the daytime, in order to accommodate the largest segment of the television audience, due to the time zone disparity between the West Indies and the United States and the subcontinent. Additionally, a few games will commence at 3 p.m. local time. This represents a substantial departure from the recent T20 World Cups, which all featured a greater proportion of matches played under lighting.
The Caribbean hosted the most recent identical World Cup in 2010, during which 24 of the 27 matches were played during the day. In contrast, the three T20 World Cups that were hosted in the sub-continent between 2012 and 2016 featured only one day-only game, while the final one was held in Australia, featuring six. In contrast to the 2024 edition, which will feature half of the Super Eight contests, two elimination games, and the grand final, the 2021 edition in the UAE and Oman featured a significant number of day games, primarily from the early rounds. This development is crucial because it significantly impacts the trends and patterns observed in T20s in these regions of the world.