Twenty20 World Cup History
The period lasting from the year 1998 to 2001 was can be traced back as the time of origin of Twenty20 cricket. However, it was in the year 2001 that the idea of a shortened form of cricket, earlier discussed by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), began to take a concrete shape. The concept of 40-over game, with 20 overs per innings, was presented to the county chairman in the same year and later, passed with a voting of 11-7, 11 in favor and 7 against. Soon, the new form of cricket was given the name of Twenty20, more popularly T20.
T20 Cricket was formally introduced to the world in 2003, when ECB launched the Twenty20 Cup, along with slogan “I don’t like cricket, I love it”. The same year, the first Twenty20 cricket tournament was organized in England, with various county cricket teams. The tournament proved to be a success, with thousands of spectators filling the England’s cricket stadiums, a first in many decades. Soon, other cricket playing nations of the world also started to take notice of Twenty20 cricket.
Soon after the first Twenty20 cricket tournament was played and became overnight success, South Africa, Australia and the West Indies also organized similar tournaments, which again attracted huge cricket audience. In the year 2005, history was created, when Twenty20 cricket made its international debut, with the first T20 International being played, between Australia and New Zealand, at Eden Park. As the popularity of the new form of cricket started rising, surpassing that of even ODIs and Tests, the game was taken more seriously.
By 2007, the popularity of Twenty20 had gained such heights that ICC organized the first international Twenty20 tournament, rather the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup, creating another history of sorts. With South Africa as the host, the tournament included 10 test playing nations, apart from ICC associate nations - Kenya and Scotland. India won the first ICC T20 World Cup, beating Pakistan in the finals. Now, the second ICC Twenty20 World Cup has been scheduled to start in June 2009, with England as the host and 9 test playing nations (excluding Zimbabwe), Scotland and debutants Ireland and the Netherlands as the teams.
Last Update: May 05, 2009
