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The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 is set to begin in ten days in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. A total of 16 teams, namely Oman, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Holland, Scotland, Ireland, England, Australia, West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan and India, will participate in this year's tournament.
There will be a qualifying round before the Super 12 stage gets underway. Eight teams will compete in the qualifying stage and four of them will join the top eight T20 World Cup 2021 teams in the Super 12. The final is set to be played on November 14.
Over the next few weeks, fans will witness some nerve-wrecking matches at the T20 World Cup fixtures. While most things will be the same as the previous T20 World Cup tournaments, the following five things will happen for the first time in the 2021 T20 WC.
1. Virat Kohli will captain India for the first time in an ICC T20 World Cup match
In all previous ICC T20 World Cup tournaments, MS Dhoni captained the Indian cricket team. But for the first time in T20 WC 2021, Virat Kohli will lead the Indian squad.
Some of the biggest names in world cricket like Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will play under Kohli's leadership at the mega event.
2. An associate ICC nation will host the T20 World Cup for the first time
India was initially set to host the T20 World Cup this year. However, the BCCI moved the tournament to the Middle East.
UAE and Oman will co-host the mega event from October 17 to November 14. For the first time in ICC T20 World Cup history, an associate member of the ICC will host the matches.
3. Papua New Guinea and Namibia have qualified for the first time
As mentioned earlier, Namibia and Papua New Guinea are among the 16 teams in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. The other 14 nations have played in the T20 World Cup before, but Namibia and PNG will make their debuts this year.
Both teams are in the qualifying round of the tournament. It will be interesting to see if they can make it to the Super 12 stage.
Click here for the T20 World Cup 2021 group table.
4. Country hosting the final will not be a part of the ICC T20 World Cup
Dubai International Cricket Stadium will play the T20 World Cup host to the final on November 14. Interestingly though, the United Arab Emirates cricket team is not part of the T20 World Cup.
In previous editions, South Africa, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India were part of the T20 World Cup competitions they hosted. But that streak will end this year.
5. Super 12s
From 2007 to 2012, the second round of the T20 World Cups featured eight teams and was called Super 8s. In 2014, ICC increased the number of teams to ten and named the round as Super 10s.
This year, for the first time in ICC T20 World Cup history, there will be a Super 12 round. The international cricket-governing body aims to take the sport to newer regions, and this step is a positive development in that direction.
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