T20 WC 2022: Seven Australia venues confirmed

THE eighth edition of the T20 World Cup will be held in Australia, the current champions, in October-November next year and seven venues will host the games of the tournament, officials on Tuesday (16) confirmed.

Former champions Sri Lanka and the West Indies will have to qualify for the Super 12 phase of the tournament. The West Indies have won the tournament the most number of times so far – twice.

ALSO READ: Australia hammer New Zealand by 8 wickets to win T20 World Cup

The tournament was supposed to be held in Australia in 2020 but was postponed by two years due to coronavirus. The just concluded edition was supposed to be held in India but was shifted to Oman and the United Arab Emirates because of a devastating second wave of the pandemic that killed many.

The 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup will feature 45 matches that will be played in Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The final will be held under lights at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium (MCG).

Sydney and Adelaide will host the semi-finals.

This will be the first time that Australia will host the men’s T20 World Cup. They have held the 50-over World Cup twice before – in 1992 and 2015 – along with New Zealand and on both occasions, the finals were played at the MCG. Australia held the women’s T20 World Cup in 2020 which the home team won.

“Following the success of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020 (in Australia) and a two-year postponement, our sights are now firmly set on planning for the 2022 event,” International Cricket Council head of events Chris Tetley said.

Eight highest-ranked teams automatically qualify for the Super 12 stage and they are England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Lanka and the West Indies, who are currently ranked ninth and 10th, will have to play the preliminary rounds with Namibia, Scotland and four other countries to be decided through two qualifying tournaments – in Oman in February and in Zimbabwe in June-July 2022.