The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 is about to start in 8 days in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. A total of sixteen groups: Oman, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Holland, Scotland, Ireland, England, Australia, West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, and India, will be the participants of this year’s tournament.

There will be a qualifying round before the Super twelve stage gets in the way. Eight groups will play in the qualifying stage and 4 of them will be a part of the top eight T20 World Cup 2021 groups in the Super twelve. The finals are scheduled to commence on November fourteen.

In the next few weeks, fans will witness some nerve-racking matches at the T20 World Cup fixtures. While most things will be the same as the previous T20 World Cup tournaments, the following 5 things will be happening for the first time in the 2021 T20 WC.

1. Virat Kohli will captain India for the very first time in the ICC T20 World Cup match
   In all previous ICC T20 World Cup tournaments, MS Dhoni captained the Indian cricket team. However, for the first time in T20 WC 2021, Virat Kohli will lead the Indian squad.
   Some of the largest names in world cricket like Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will play beneath Kohli’s leadership at the mega event.
2. Associate ICC nation can host the T20 World Cup for the first time
   India was at first set to host the T20 World Cup this year. However, the BCCI had the tournament moved to the Middle East.
   UAE and Oman will co-host the mega event from Oct seventeen to November fourteen. 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 sixteen groups in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. The other fourteen nations have competed in the T20 World Cup before; however, Namibia and PNG will be creating their debuts this year.
   Both groups are in the qualifying round of the tournament. It’ll be interesting to see if they will make it to the Super twelve stage.
4. The country hosting the finals won’t be a part of the ICC T20 World Cup
   Dubai International Cricket Stadium will play the T20 World Cup host to the finals on November fourteen. Curiously though, the United Arab Emirates cricket team isn’t a part of the T20 World Cup.
   In previous editions, South Africa, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka, East Pakistan, and India were a part of the T20 World Cup competitions they hosted. However, that streak will end this year.
5. Super 12s
   From 2007 to 2012, the second rounds of the T20 World Cups featured eight groups and were known as Super 8s. In 2014, ICC increased the number of groups to 10 and named the round Super 10s.

This year, for the first time in ICC T20 World Cup history, there’ll be a super twelve round. The international cricket-governing body aims to require the game to reach newer regions, and this step could be a positive development in that direction.