At the age of 37 years and 60 days, Rohit Sharma became the oldest man to captain a side to T20 World Cup glory.

A memorable match in Colombo in the Super Eights, as Kohli scored 78 not out off 61 balls, forming a vital third-wicket partnership with Yuvraj Singh to grab India an eight-wicket win.

Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain ended with 3-22 and Taskin Ahmed (2-25) chipped in with a pair of wickets as Sri Lanka were restricted to 124-9 and then Towhid Hridoy smashed four sixes in his 40 from 20 balls as Bangladesh reached the target with an over to spare.

Even though the left-hander is the designated anchor in the Bangladesh top-order, his career strike rate of 109.64 is not up to par in T20Is.

Afghanistan's statement win in their opening group match against Uganda showed they have the goods to make a deep impact in the ninth edition of the showpiece event. 

"Pretty special moment for us, hearing our national anthem and seeing our flag at the World Cup," Masaba said.

At a press conference ahead of India's first game against Ireland in New York, Dravid stated he will not reapply for the role, with the BCCI advertising the role from last month.

Frank Nsubuga was 16 when he appeared at the 1997 ICC Champions Trophy and almost three decades on, he will finally fulfill his dream of featuring at an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

One could be fooled into predicting New Zealand’s fate in this World Cup based on their record since the last edition -- 16 wins in 34 matches -- as the Black Caps have, time and again, brought their prime version in mega events.

There is no room for bummer this summer as co-hosts West Indies prepare to set aside their miseries of the past two editions. Instead, as the two-time champions and the first to achieve the feat, the Men in Maroon will be inclined to seek inspiration from past successes.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

For those cricket fans who have got used to enjoying the sight of batters steamrolling bowlers of all ilk over the past 65 days or so, will the forthcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies may prove to be a bit of a turn-off.

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.