The fact that Afghanistan have had nine players in teams’ rosters for the Indian Premier League this season speaks volumes about the reputation of Afghan individuals as well as Afghanistan as a team in Twenty20 cricket. To put this into perspective, that number is more than Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and on par with New Zealand and West Indies -- the latter two regarded as powerhouses in all forms of cricket.

Uganda qualifying for the ICC T20 World Cup might have been an upset, but it definitely wasn’t an accident.

Online cricket traffic coming out of the USA as well as ICC event ticket purchase credit card sales data further supported the point that there is plenty of money to be made out of fans located in America, who are starved of high-quality cricket action close to home.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) are back in the T20 World Cup after a one-edition absence. They dominated in the East Asia-Pacific Qualifier, winning all six matches on home soil.

I In 2007 as the inaugural edition was about to start, Twenty20s were still widely viewed as the ‘fun’ version of cricket. Its reputation as the ‘fun’ version, prompted the ‘serious’ cricketers to distance themselves from it. Perhaps seeing something like a ‘bowl out’ decide the fate of tied matches inclined them to stay away from such frivolity.

Under the guidance of a young Najmul Hossain Shanto and with some exciting weapons in their arsenal, Bangladesh will hope to re-write their record in T20 World Cups heading into the ninth edition of the mega event. 

India will have to set aside all the chatter regarding a few of their star names and get behind one common idea of winning the T20 World Cup if they are to quench their thirst for a first major trophy in white-ball cricket since their 2013 Champions Trophy triumph.

South Africa’s cricket team embodies immense talent and potential, yet since re-instatement into international cricket, they have always fallen short of winning trophies. Despite fielding powerful squads and entering tournaments as favorites, they’ve consistently earned the unenviable title of “chokers.”

Lately, things have been a bit unsettling for Pakistan, runners-up of the last T20 World Cup in 2022 in Australia and champions of the 2009 edition.

Mustafizur Rahman reignited expectations of him ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup following his impressive performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he scalped 14 wickets in nine matches.

The T20 World Cup is a familiar platform for Ireland --one of the two newest entrants in the ICC full members list alongside Afghanistan.

‘’We have enough’’ was the main theme in most of the answers Sri Lanka’s chief selector Upul Tharanga gave when asked about the shortcomings in power-hitting abilities in the squad.

Canada’s cricket scene is buzzing with excitement as they gear up for their historic debut at the T20 World Cup. This is a monumental achievement, marking a turning point for their developing cricket programme.

Netherlands arrive in the tournament by virtue of having secured automatic qualification, finishing in top-eight of the previous edition, but without veterans Roelof van der Merwe and Colin Ackerman as selectors opted for promising talents.

If for nothing else, there will be a lot of focus on USA for being the co-hosts of the global T20 tournament for the first time. And they would be undoubtedly willing to make a mark on their home soil, in front of the home crowd regardless.

Nepal were unfortunate not to go through to the Super 10s of the 2014 T20 World Cup, their debut campaign, as they were edged by Bangladesh on net run-rate.

Oman’s cricketing journey in the T20 World Cup began in 2016 and they co-hosted the 2021 edition with the UAE. However, their qualification bid fell short in 2022, as they finished fourth in the qualifiers.

If someone were wandering the streets of the USA and heard the sweet sound of a bat meeting ball, the immediate assumption might be that it’s a baseball game. However, it’s increasingly likely that this sound comes from a cricket match.

In the truest sense, Australia have conquered the game of cricket.

Even though cricket is a global game which in terms of popularity is only behind football in the world, the people running the sport have always been sceptical about letting new teams join the ranks of the established names.