Next men's T20 World Cup to be in played in new format
New Delhi (PTI): The 2024 T20 World Cup will be played in a different format in which 20 participating countries will be divided into four groups of five teams each and the first round will be followed by a Super Eight stage.
In the 2021 and 2022 editions, the first round was followed by the Super 12 but in the next tournament, the top two teams from each of the four groups will progress to the Super Eight phase, where they will be further divided into two groups of four each.
Then, the top two sides in each of the two Super Eights groups will make the semi-finals, which will be followed by the final.
As many as 12 teams have already secured their berth in the next edition of the tournament to be played in West Indies and United States.
As hosts, the West Indies and the USA take up the first two spots.
The top eight teams in the recently-held T20 World Cup in Australia (top four in each Super 12 group), including reigning champions England and runners-up Pakistan, have already gained spots for the 2024 tournament, with Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the next best teams on the ICC men's T20I Rankings, also securing their spot.
The final eight spots for the 2024 tournament will be decided in regional play, the ICC said in a press release.
"While South Africa claimed 2024 qualification by virtue of their top eight finish, Zimbabwe were unable to capitalise on their strong start to the campaign, finishing last in the Super 12 group to be sent back to regional qualification," the ICC said in the release.
Africa, Asia and Europe will have two qualification spots, with one spot for both the Americas and East-Asia Pacific regions.
In the last two editions of the T20 World Cup, the first round saw two groups of four teams which included countries that entered the event through the qualifying stage and teams that finished between ninth and 12th in the previous tournament.
The top two sides from each group in the first round then joined the rest of the eight teams that had already qualified for the Super 12 stage.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
