Australia began their defence of the Twenty20 World Cup with a crushing 89-run loss to New Zealand on Saturday as the Black Caps avenged their defeat to Aaron Finch's men in last year's final.

Skipper Rohit Sharma said on Saturday that his India team are relishing the "challenge" of facing arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening match of the Twenty20 World Cup.

The Shakib Al Hasan-led Bangladesh side reached Hobart from Brisbane on Saturday for the Super 12 stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has slammed the "stupid" size of boundary marking sponges at stadiums after seamer Reece Topley was ruled out of the Twenty20 World Cup having suffered a leg injury by stepping on one during a fielding drill.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has relaxed rules related to COVID-19 for the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia. Players, despite testing positive, will be permitted to compete.

Explosive middle-order batsman Tim David is a "godsend" for Australia and it is up to the team management to decide how to utilise him in the Twenty20 World Cup, opener David Warner said.

New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell is a doubt for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia starting this month after fracturing a finger in training on Friday.

Opener David Warner was among four big names who returned Wednesday to Australia's squad for a two-match Twenty20 series against the West Indies, with the World Cup on home soil next month.

Sabbir Rahman was called back into the squad for the Asia Cup last August after over two years despite not much of impressive performances in the domestic circuit.

Improving India's bowling remains the team's focus ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup next month, skipper Rohit Sharma has said, adding that he backs seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar to come out of a recent slump.

Singapore-born Tim David is an X-factor in Australia's Twenty20 World Cup squad and pace spearhead Pat Cummins said he was looking forward to the all-rounder's debut in Australian colours during the three-match series in India.

Sri Lanka's Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara will travel to Australia for the T20 World Cup in a squad largely unchanged from the island nation's surprise Asia Cup win, selectors said Friday.

The gloomy weather in Mirpur that halted the second day of the Tigers' three-day training camp may not have had a huge impact in any other situation. But given the current scenario, it appeared to be a crucial miss for the team management, who were relying heavily on these training sessions to finalise the squad for next month's T20 World Cup.

According to sources in the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), the board might consider giving farewell to stalwart Mahmudullah Riyad from the T20 format in one of the matches during Bangladesh's tri-nation T20I series in New Zealand next month.

Even though Bangladesh exited the Asia Cup, a continental championship, without any victories, team director Khaled Mahmud Sujon was of opinion that the Tigers possess the ability to conquer the world.

England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler said he is hopeful he can fully recover from a calf injury and hit top gear in time for this year's Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.

After leading Gujarat Titans to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title in their first season, winning the Twenty20 World Cup with India is next on Hardik Pandya's bucket list.

New Zealand’s outstanding five-wicket victory over hot favourites England in the first semifinal of the T20 World Cup is destined to go down as one of the classics, given how the game unfolded.

Bangladesh and Australia face off in a survival fight in the Twenty20 World Cup.

Shahid Afridi, Pakistan T20 captain said a tough World Twenty20 draw in a group featuring India, Australia, New Zealand and most likely Bangladesh will motivate his team.