ICC announces schedule and venues for Men's T20 World Cup 2022

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Monday that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 will be held across seven cities in Australia from October 16 to November 13, 2022. The tournament, considered to be the epitome of Men’s T20I cricket will host a total of 45 matches, played across Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. Having won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 title, the recently crowned champions Australia will have the perfect opportunity to defend their title in front of the home crowd. 

As per a media release on the official website of ICC, the seven venues which will host the matches are Adelaide Oval, The Gabba, Kardinia Park Stadium, Bellerive Oval, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Perth Stadium, and Sydney Cricket Ground. The upcoming T20 World Cup will kick off on October 16 and will end with the final, to be contested under the lights at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The  ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 was originally scheduled to be held in 2020, however, it was rescheduled to 2022 after the entire globe suffered from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Australia have the perfect conditions to defend their T20 title

Meanwhile, with the announcement of the schedule and venues for the global T20 event, as mentioned in the release, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Local Organising Committee CEO, Michelle Enright congratulated newly crowned champions Australia for lifting the 2021 title and said it will be an amazing platform for the team to defend their title in front of the fans in 2022. Speaking further about the coveted event, Enright said, “In exactly eleven months from today, Australia will host the next edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, bringing the world’s best and most dynamic players to our shores for an unmissable event in October and November next year. With the unprecedented disruptions over the past two years, bringing the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to Australia for the first time offers a perfect opportunity for fans across the whole country to experience the joy of a live global sporting event again."

Eight teams have already qualified for next year's tournament

The recently concluded T20 World Cup 2021, was originally planned to be held in India as a replacement for the ICC Champions Trophy 2021, however, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was later played in UAE. Meanwhile, the upcoming T20 World Cup 2020 was originally planned to be held in 2020, however, it was postponed to 2022, looking at the 2021 edition and the Covid-19 pandemic. Eight of the 12 Super-12 stage playing nations in the 2021 edition, i.e. Champions Australia, runners-up New Zealand, England, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh have already qualified for next year's tournament by finishing in the top-8 of the ICC Men's T20 Team Rankings. These teams will be joined by four more teams, which will lock horns in the first round ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022.

Image: AP/Instagram-@icc