The international championship of Twenty20 cricket 2016 is scheduled to take place in India from March 8th to April 3rd. This will be the sixth edition of the tournament that so far was held every two years. However, the seventh ICC World Twenty20 tournament will be hosted by Australia and is scheduled to take place in 2020.
Also known as World T20, this event, considered of major interest even by bookmakers, is organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) that represents the highest authority for this sport worldwide.
16 cricket teams will participate in the event from which 10 have full member status, and 6 are associate members and have been qualified through the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.
Teams with full member status are considered the governing body for cricket and usually represent a geographical area rather than a country. The 10 participating full member cricket teams for 2016 are Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. The associate members qualifying teams are Ireland, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Oman, Afghanistan, and Scotland.
The format of the tournament consists of:
- First or Group Round
- Second Round also called Super 10
- Knock Out stage
- Semi-finals
- Finals
Within each group, teams are ranked based on the number of points, if they are equal, and on the number of wins.
The top 8 teams in the ICC T20 Championship rankings have already qualified for the Second Round leaving only Bangladesh and Scotland to participate in the first round against associate member teams.
35 matches are scheduled for the Twenty20 cricket 2016 with the First Round matches scheduled to take place from 8th March to 13th March followed by Second Round matches starting with 15th March.
For the First Round, teams have been divided into:
- Group A: that includes Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands and Oman
- Group B: consisting of cricket teams from Zimbabwe, Scotland, Hong Kong and Afghanistan
The winners of each group will progress to Super 10.
The Second Round has also been further divided into two groups consisting of 5 teams each:
- Second Round Group A: includes Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, England and the winners of First Round Group B
- Second Round Group B are India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and the winner of First Round Group A.
According to the ICC T20 Championship ranking, Sri Lanka occupies the first place with a rating of 121, followed by West Indies with 118 and India with 117. Those three cricket teams are considered favorites and many expect them to reach at least the Semi-Finals. In this context, it’s worth mentioning the fact that previous ICC World Twenty20 competitions have been won by India in 2007, Pakistan in 2009, England in 2011 and West Indies in 2012. The 2014 ICC World Twenty20 that took place in Bangladesh was won by Sri Lanka, which defeated India in the Final held at Mirpur Stadium.
Many cricket fans also look forward to the confrontation between India vs. Pakistan scheduled for 19th of March 2016 on Dharamshala stadium. Teams have a long history of rivaling and their latest encounter was during the 2015 Cricket World Cup held in Australia when India defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets.
The ICC T20 World Cup attracts not only cricket enthusiasts but also many sports bettors who see the event as a great wagering opportunity. For this reason, we feel compelled to recommend several types of bets offered for this championship by the majority of bookies.
The most popular bet markets promoted by several online bookmakers include World Cup Outrights such as the winner of the championship, team to reach Final, top batsman or group winners. Additional markets worth mentioning are matched winner, totals, double chance, series winner, scores and several others.
Overall, the international championship of Twenty20 cricket 2016 is a highly anticipated event both for cricket fans and for bettors alike. Judging from previous championships, we expect this tournament to be highly competitive and filled with exciting cricket action and unexpected surprises.
