The next edition of the T20 World Cup will be held across seven cities in Australia, the ICC has announced.
The showpiece event will kick off on October 16 while the final will be staged at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on November 13, which will be a night affair.
As per the announcement by the global cricket governing body, a total of 45 matches will be held across Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney and the first semi final will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on November 9 while the second one will be staged at the Adelaide Oval on November 10.
Hosts and newly-crowned T20 champions Australia will join 2021 runners-up New Zealand, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, England and South Africa in the Super 12 stage of the tournament.
On the other hand, Namibia, Scotland, two-time winners West Indies and 2014 champions Sri Lanka will play in the first round where they will be joined by four more teams, which will be selected through the qualifiers.
Commenting on the development, ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley said: “We are looking forward to seeing the return of ICC events to Australia and are delighted to announce the seven host cities for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. Following the success of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020 and a two year postponement, our sights are now firmly set on planning for the 2022 event in collaboration with the LOC.
“With 12 teams already confirmed in the line-up, we eagerly await the culmination of the qualification process to see which other teams will join them,” he added.
Recently after advancing to the ‘Super 12’ stage of the just concluded T20 World Cup 2021, which was held in Oman and the UAE, Bangladesh, Namibia, Scotland and Sri Lanka had confirmed their spot for the next edition of the showpiece event.
The four remaining spots will be filled via the ongoing qualification pathway taking place across the five regions, culminating in two global qualifying tournaments in early 2022, the ICC had said recently.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 will be the biggest global sporting event to be hosted in Australia as it will witness 16 teams, which will play 45 matches around the country.
The just concluded edition of the T20 World Cup was son by the Aaron Finch-led Australia, which had defeated the Kane Williamson-led New Zealand by eight wickets in Dubai on November 14.
Significantly, it was also the maiden T20 World Cup title for Australia,