It was only a few days back that some exciting news broke out for all the cricket fans around the world! With the ICC Men’s World Cup being round the corner, the excitement only increased with the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup 2020 schedule being announced. The fight as to which team would hold up the trophy would start on 21st February, 2020, with the finals being held on 8th March, 2020. A total of 10 teams would be part of this tournament including two teams that are yet to be qualified.
With so many different domestic leagues taking place in almost all the countries at present day, each player is fighting for a place in their national team. Where some are looked upon as the emerging stars, they are the ones who surprise us with every new game that they play.
The first encounter would surely be among those that none would want to miss. The defending champions, Australia, would take on the Indian women, marking the start of the much awaited tournament. Both the teams have only seen a graph that has been going up where progress and improvement is concerned. The ICC woman cricketer of the year, Smriti Mandhana, would be the one every team would like to get hold of early in the game. Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian side prove to be amazingly balanced with experience and the hunger to learn.
Australia on the other hand are a bench of extremely experienced women and a group that no team would like to take on lightly. Having their own glorious history, they are a team who have been champions for four times already. The likes of Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Meg Lanning, Beth Mooney and others only depicts what the team is capable of.
The Ashes rivals, the encounter between Australia and NewZealand would also be one that the fans would look forward to. The Kiwis although being on a high off late, haven’t had quite a tournament that they would like against India. In form players like Amy Satterthwaite, Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, who have a good share of experience, are mainly the ones this team relies on. A combination of new comers and experience is what makes this team unpredictable.
Runners Up, England, have their identity in Danielle Wyatt and Heather Knight. Both of them always being in the news, they surely have a lot to offer on field. With innumerable records, they surely give the team a shape that constantly encourages and believes in providing opportunities to the youngsters.
The major hitters that is the Windies would be a team to look forward to. Engaged in many tournaments off late and also bringing back cricket into Pakistan, it would be interesting to follow how the Stephanie Taylor led side would tackle their opponents. Pakistan with the likes of Sana Mir, Captain Javeria Khan and others would likely be wanting to come back stronger when compared to their position in 2018.
Spanning only about 16-17 days, this tournament would not only be showcasing new talents but also open to us surprises and probably a breaking of many records. Alyssa Healy being the highest run scorer of the tournament followed by Smriti and Harmanpreet, it would be exciting to follow how the super women compete against each other. Impressing in the bowling department and presently at her peak Schutt would be another player to be followed.
With more than a year to go, it would be fascinating to see how the teams shape up. Also, Australia being a country where women’s cricket came in early and is largely encouraged and recognised it would be interesting to see what Cricket Australia would have in store to give a competition where the crowd is concerned in comparison to a men’s game. With a number of new faces already on the field it would be rather exciting to follow as to how the selection takes place. The qualifiers for the two deciding teams, yet to be confirmed, would give the tournament a different view. With a mixture of legends and beginners, experienced and debutants, it would be a league which will see competition, cooperation,