ICC T20 World Cup: Group A analysis and stats
The 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the West Indies and the USA, is just around the corner. The gala tournament will get underway on June 1 with 20 teams divided into four groups. Arch-rivals India and Pakistan have been placed in Group A alongside USA, Canada, and Ireland. Let's analyze the Group A.
Two teams will go through
Each side will play one game against teams in their group. The top two sides from all four groups will then advance to the "Super Eight" stage. The Super Eight stage will be further bifurcated into two groups of four teams each. The top two teams from these groups will then advance into the semi-finals and subsequently the finalists will be determined.
India and Pakistan are firm favorites
The marquee Indo-Pak clash will be played at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Long Island on 9 June. Regardless of the result, both these sides are firm favorites to qualify from Group A. However, Ireland will back themselves to cause an upset or two as they have defeated teams like West Indies and England in previous T20 WC editions.
USA, Canada to feature in maiden T20 WCs
Meanwhile, USA and Canada are set to feature in their maiden T20 WC. While USA received the playing rights on virtue of being the hosts, Canada cleared the Americas Qualifiers. The United States recently stunned Bangladesh with a 2-1 T20I series win at home. Meanwhile, Canada own a solitary T20I win over a full-member team, against Ireland in 2019.
T20 WC numbers of key batters
While India's Virat Kohli (1,141 at 81.50) is the highest run-getter in T20 WC history, Rohit Sharma boasts 963 runs at 34.39. Pakistan duo Mohammad Rizwan (456 at 41.45) and Babar Azam (427 at 35.58) have made their bat talk in the competition. Paul Stirling (407 at 23.94) is Ireland's leading run-getter at the event. Andrew Balbirnie (223 at 22.30) trails him.
T20 WC numbers of key bowlers
India's Ravindra Jadeja (21 wickets at 25.19) and Jasprit Bumrah (11 at 22.54) have fared decently with the ball in the competition. Shadab Khan (20 at 15.15) and Shaheen Afridi (18 at 18) have been sensational with the ball. Meanwhile, Ireland are the only team to have two bowlers with T20 WC hat-tricks (Curtis Campher in 2021 and Joshua Little in 2022).
