The International Cricket Council (ICC) on July 22 formed a three-member committee to “review the delivery” of the T20 World Cup which was co-hosted by the USA and the West Indies last month.

The committee features former New Zealand batter Roger Twose and two other directors Lawson Naidoo and Imran Khwaja, who is the deputy chair of the ICC.

“The ICC Board confirmed that there will be a review into the delivery of the ICC T20 World Cup. This will be overseen by three directors, Roger Twose, Lawson Naidoo and Imran Khwaja who will report back to the Board later in the year,” an ICC release stated.

It is understood that ICC incurred losses in excess of $20 million for conducting matches in New York, Florida and Dallas.

It is learnt that the allocated budget for the U.S. leg of the tournament was around $150 million and it was found that the budget had overshot by a fair distance which was red-flagged by certain influential board members of the global body.

Poor quality of drop-in pitches, ticketing system and the logistical issues added to the ICC’s woes. A close look at how various tenders were handed out also raised concerns.

It is understood that the role of some top ICC executives will also be thoroughly looked into by the committee.

Already, head of events Chris Tetley has tendered his resignation although the official reason given was that an ICC flagship event every year (men and women) was taking its toll.

USA, Chile put on notice and given 1 year for compliance

The governing body for cricket in the United States, popularly known as USAC, has been formally put on notice and given 12 months to comply with ICC’s Associate Membership criteria.

As per ICC’s Associate Membership Criteria, USAC has fault on two counts 2.2 b (i) governance 2.2b (ii) administrative and executive structure.

It is learnt that USAC has not complied with the norms of the USA Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), which is mandatory to get recognition as National Governing Body (NGB) to be a part of Los Angeles Games in 2028 where cricket is one of the medal events.

In case, USAC, in its current form, fails to comply with USOPC guidelines, the LA Games organisers would be forced to de-recognise the former and form a new NGB.

The second reason is believed to be non-appointment of CEO, which is a must for any cricket board.

“USA Cricket and Cricket Chile have been formally put on notice and have 12 months to rectify their current non-compliance with the ICC Membership Criteria,” the release stated.

“Neither Member is considered to have in place a fit for purpose detailed governance and administrative structure and systems.” “The Board agreed that a Normalisation Committee comprising of Board and Management representatives will be set up to oversee and monitor USA Cricket’s compliance roadmap and the ICC Board will reserve its right to suspend or expel the Member for continued non-compliance.”

Cricketing Decisions

The Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) confirmed the allocation of the eight regional qualifying spots for the 2026 T20 World Cup. This would see two teams qualify from Africa and Europe, one from the Americas and three from a combined Asia and EAP regional final.

The ICC, with its long-term strategic commitment to equity across the men’s and women’s game, also confirmed the expansion of the women’s T20 World Cup in 2030 from 12 to 16 teams.

The cut-off date for qualification for the 2026 women’s T20 World Cup qualifier was confirmed as October 31, 2024.

The CEC approved the appointment of Paul Reiffel to the Cricket Committee as the Elite Panel representative.

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has expressed his displeasure at being dropped for the crucial T20 World Cup Super Eights match against Afghanistan in the Caribbean, saying he was not one bit amused by the team management’s decision.
| Photo Credit: Gareth Copley

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has expressed his displeasure at being dropped for the crucial T20 World Cup Super Eights match against Afghanistan in the Caribbean, saying he was not one bit amused by the team management’s decision.

The 2021 T20 World Cup champions suffered a shocking 21-run loss to Afghanistan, which dealt a massive blow to Australia’s chances of entering the semifinals.

Australia had replaced Starc with Ashton Agar for the match but the left-arm spinner, despite tying down the Afghanistan batters, could not take any wickets.

“No — two World Cups in a row,” Starc was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald on Willow Talk podcast when quizzed about his omission and whether he was amused by the decision.

“Just the match-up, they (team management) saw previous games on that ground in St Vincent with spin playing a part and obviously Ash (Ashton) and the left-armer enticing them to make a change,” he added.

This was the second occasion in a row where the Australian pacer was dropped for a T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan, with the previous one being in Adelaide in 2022 where also the hosts failed to reach the last four stage.

Agar and the two Australian pace spearheads, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, were unable to break the partnership between openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who ended up making 118 runs.

“I think Ash bowled pretty well in the powerplay. They probably played the spin quite well and batting first probably assessed the conditions a little bit better than we did, and had a couple of stumbles that in the end cost us the game,” said Starc.

“It was probably the fielding that cost us again that game. That meant we had to win against India and we fell short there as well.” Australia then went on to lose to India in Super Eights and were later eliminated from the competition.

Starc also expressed his displeasure with the scheduling of the tournament and pre seeding that saw them advance to the pre determined group despite topping the group stage.

“We finished ahead of England (in the group stage) and end up where we were pre-seeded as the second side. All of a sudden, you’re in a different group.” “The argument was it was because it was so hard to get around the West Indies, so fans knew where your team was playing.

“So then why don’t you have the chock-a-block tournament at the front… and then spread it out at the back end? We had the two night games and the third was a day game, so it wasn’t the best preparation. We had a delayed flight out of St Vincent, it was a 90-minute drive from the airport to the hotel in St Lucia, and then we had a 10 o’clock toss.

He added that the travelling between venues in the West Indies is always difficult.

“I think that was probably maybe a misread [by organisers], the fact that the front half of the tournament was more spread out, and then you hit the super eights and … travel around the West Indies is probably not the easiest thing to do, certainly not to travel home from.”

Rahul Dravid with captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli pose for a picture after Team India wins the ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2024 defeating South Africa in the finals.
| Photo Credit: ANI

As Rahul Dravid bids farewell to Team India, the legend said that during his tenure as head coach, he abhorred chopping and changing the side too much and always tried to be a foil for skipper Rohit Sharma so that he could devise his own winning strategies.

Dravid’s coaching stint came to an end with India winning the T20 World Cup in Barbados last week, defeating South Africa and bringing home the trophy for the second time after 2007.

“I’m someone who actually likes continuity and don’t like to chop and change too many things because I believe that creates a lot of instability and doesn’t create very good environment,” said Dravid in a video posted by BCCI on July 6.

“I feel that I am a part of the team whose responsibility is to create the right professional, safe, secure environment that doesn’t really have a fear of failure as such but is challenging enough to push people. That has always been my endeavour.” Dravid said that the period when the players were coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic was a tough one for him as he had just taken over as coach and “never envisaged” that he would have to work with half a dozen captains.

“One of the things that we really had to manage, especially in the early part of my coaching tenure here with India. We were at the back-end of the COVID restrictions. “We really had to manage their workloads through all the three different formats. There were a few injuries and it led to me working with something like 5-6 captains in the first 8-10 months of me being here.

“It was definitely something that I hadn’t envisaged, or not something that I thought about, but it just sort of organically happened.” Under Dravid’s tutelage, India thrashed England in the five-match Test series at home and the team also reached the 2023 ODI World Cup final.

While COVID put a lot of restrictions on players and they virtually lived out of a ‘bubble case’ at all times, the pandemic also had its up side as a lot of youngsters got a chance to be a part of the India team environment.

“The other thing that happened, which was very nice to see is, because we played so much of cricket after Covid and we had to cram in a lot of series, it meant that we had to almost, at times, have two teams playing at the same time in different parts of the world.

“Over the last 2-1/2 years, especially in white-ball cricket and lately towards the back-end (of my career) even in red-ball cricket, we were able to give a lot of youngsters a lot of opportunities, bring a lot of people into the side.” “Some of them developed and stayed on in the side a little bit longer, but some of them, they were there because at that point of time maybe some of the seniors were resting.” Dravid’s relationship with Indian stalwarts like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli dates back to the time when he was at the fag end of his cricketing career while the two were finding their feet in international cricket.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with Rohit, someone I knew as a young boy. Just to see him grow as a person and grow as a leader in Indian cricket, what someone like him has been able to contribute to the team over the last 10-12 years, both as a player and now as a leader, has been a real tribute to him and the effort that he’s put in.

“I’ve really enjoyed getting to him know as a person as well and enjoyed seeing his commitment and his care for the team; to just try and get the environment right where everyone feels safe and secure and enjoys themselves. It’s something that I’ll miss.

“Even with someone like Virat. In the initial days, just a couple of series with him as a captain, just a couple of matches. Getting to know him as well and to see how he goes about his business, the professionalism that he continues to display…his desired to improve, to get better. It’s been fascinating for me to watch.” Dravid said he always believed in the process because of which, at times, he was misunderstood as not being result-oriented.

“For me that’s (results), of course it’s important. I keep saying and people think, ‘Oh, I think result are not important’. Of course, results are important.

“I’m in the business to produce results. But it’s always like, as a coach, to think about what is it that I can control to help the results and at the end of the day our responsibility should be to try and help the captain deliver his vision and his philosophy of how he wants the team to play.” “Of course, to win cricket games is a given. You try to win as much as you can. You start with that. But I always look back on what is it that leads to the winning? How do you win more games and what is the process required to win more games? “For me, the vision was to try and get that process right. Ticking all of those boxes. ‘Are we challenging the players enough? Are we practicing well enough? are we prepared tactically, technically? Are we supporting the players as best as we possibly can, Are we creating the right environment? “These are the things I think that are important to tick before you get to the winning. The winning, hopefully, if you do a lot of these things, most of the time the winning will take care of itself.”

The T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma holds the Indian tricolour during open bus victory parade, in Mumbai, on July 4, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Rohit Sharma, India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain, thanked all the Indian cricket fans for supporting the team during its campaign. 

“On behalf of my team and the BCCI, I would like to thank the fans! Ever since we have reached India, we have seen how much it means to them. For the last 11 years, they have wanted the trophy back in India!,” Rohit said while addressing a choc-a-bloc Wankhede Stadium.

Team India victory parade highlights: Indian team feted at Wankhede after open-bus parade 

“As much desperation we had to win the trophy, the fans had it a bit more. This team is special and I am lucky to have the chance to captain this unit.”

After arriving in New Delhi from Barbados early morning, the Men in Blue met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The squad then flew down to Mumbai and celebrated with the fans during a roadshow followed by an event at the Wankhede.

Head coach Rahul Dravid, in his last formal appearance as India’s head coach, stated winning the T20 World Cup was a fitting note to end his stint. “This is a fantastic note to sign off on. I am going to miss all this love. What we have been seeing today and what I have heard since the win shows how India makes cricket brilliant,” Dravid said.

Veteran Virat Kohli, who announced his T20I retirement after emerging Player of the Final, compared the 2011 ODI World Cup win with the recent triumph. “When we won the World Cup in 2011, there were a lot of tears among the seniors and I couldn’t understand. I was young and we had won the World Cup,” Kohli said.

“But now, being a senior player, with Rohit besides, after playing for so long, it is special. This is the first time I have seen Rohit show so much emotion on the field. When I was walking up the steps, I was crying, he was crying and we hugged. That is a special moment.”

Jasprit Bumrah, the Player of the Tournament, felt it was a surreal moment for him to return to Wankhede. “It feels amazing. This ground is really special in my life. As an under-19 kid, I came here to play cricket and what I saw today, I will never forget that,” Bumrah said.

“ The confidence that we have to take the game by the neck and pull us out of trouble is special. Our aim is to take Indian cricket forward. This World Cup gives us the motivation to go ahead and do it again.”

Captain Rohit Sharma poses for a picture with the trophy after Team India won the ICC Twenty20 World Cup against South Africa, at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Rohit Sharma held the T20 World Cup trophy like a new-born baby as he walked towards the beach here for the triumphant captain’s post-tournament photo shoot, a serene smile refusing to leave his face and the feeling of being a world champion yet to fully sink in.

He couldn’t be faulted for being a bit dazed. After all, a jinx that lasted over a decade had been broken.

“It’s surreal. It feels like a dream. It feels like it hasn’t happened. Although it has happened but it feels like it hasn’t happened,” Rohit laughed trying to process his thoughts after 24 hours while talking to BCCI.TV.

The coastal city of Bridgetown is battling a hurricane. The same could also be said about the Indian captain, only that his is a battle to control a gamut of emotions threatening to overwhelm him like a huge sea wave every now and then.

“Last night we had a good time, we had a blast with the teammates till the early morning,” he couldn’t stop grinning before becoming a touch emotional. I would say I didn’t sleep properly but that’s absolutely fine by me. There is a lot of time for me to go back and sleep.

“I want to live this moment, each minute, each second that is passing by and will try to make the most of it,” he said describing how it felt to lead an Indian team to its first ICC title in 11 years.

“It’s been a great moment right from the time the game got over to till now. That’s the emotions and feelings you have,” said the skipper.

His marauding run at the top, especially in the knockouts, fetched Rohit a place in the team of the tournament but all he can think about for now is a sense of joyous relief.

“We have dreamt about this for such a long period of time, we worked hard as a unit for such a long period of time and to see this (the trophy) with us, it feels quite relieved as well.

“When you have worked hard for something and eventually at the end you get it, feels really, really nice,” the skipper reiterated.

People were amazed and amused to see Rohit walk to the 22-yard strip at Kensington Oval and put a tiny speck of soil in his mouth, just like Novak Djokovic does after winning the Wimbledon.

The 37-year-old said it was a spur of the moment act.

“Nothing was scripted. It was all coming instinctively. I was feeling the moment,” Rohit said about his ode to the turf that gave him the best moment of his life.

“When I went to the pitch, that pitch gave us this trophy. I will remember that ground forever in my life and that pitch as well. I wanted to have a piece of it with me.

“Those moments are very special, the place where all our dreams came true and I wanted something of it,” he concluded.

India captain Rohit Sharma poses for a picture with the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2024 trophy at a beach, in Barbados on July 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The first T20 World Cup featuring 20 Teams will go down in history for several reasons. The tournament ended with Team India ending their ICC trophy drought, securing a seven-run win over first-time finalists South Africa in an edge-of-the-seat thriller at Barbados.

Here is a closer look at some amazing feats and records broken in the West Indies and the USA.

With two unbeaten sides meeting in the final, it was clear that the champion would set a new record for most wins in a tournament. In fact, India and South Africa both finished with eight match wins — with India missing out on a possible victory due to one of their matches (against Canada in the group stage) being a washout.

India’s 176/7 in the final, however, was the highest by any team in the final of a Men’s T20 World Cup — edging past Australia’s 173/2 against New Zealand in 2021.

At the age of 37 years and 60 days, Rohit Sharma became the oldest man to captain a side to T20 World Cup glory, as per ICC. It was a tournament that was great for the bowlers, and both Fazalhaq Farooqi of semifinalists Afghanistan and Arshdeep Singh of champions India took 17 wickets, the most in a single edition, one more than previous record-holder Wanindu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka.

The sensational Jasprit Bumrah of India finished with the best bowling average in an edition, with 8.3 – ahead of Anrich Nortje’s figures of 8.5 in 2022. Bumrah, who also went at an economy of 4.17, was a unanimous decision for the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award.

And it was England’s Chris Jordan who has the record for the best bowling strike rate in a tournament, with 8.3 — ahead of Fazalhaq Farooqi (8.9) and Tabraiz Shamsi (9.2) this year, as well as previous record-holder Jacques Kallis (9.4) from 2012.Jordan claimed four wickets in an unseen quadruple-wicket maiden over against the USA. Curtis Campher, who claimed four wickets in four balls against The Netherlands in 2021, conceded two in his over.

New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson also created history as the first man to bowl four maiden overs in a T20 World Cup spell. He finished with figures of 3/0 (4) against Papua New Guinea in the Kiwis’ last group-stage match at the tournament.

There was plenty of big hitting as well — and 2024 recorded the most boundaries in an edition of the T20 World Cup thus far, with 1,478, eclipsing 2021’s 1,349. Unsurprisingly, within that, 2024 also had the most sixes — 515, more than 100 more than 2021’s 405.And West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran hit the most sixes in a T20 World Cup — his 17 beating the record of 16 set by his legendary compatriot Chris Gayle.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today spoke to the Indian Cricket Team on the phone to congratulate the players for their T20 World Cup win against South Africa, officials said.

The Prime Minister thanked coach Rahul Dravid , whose two-and-a-half-year-long tenure as Team India’s Head Coach came to a close after yesterday’s match, for his contribution to Indian cricket. Under Rahul Dravid’s guidance, India’s 11-year ICC title drought ended with Team India’s triumph in yesterday’s match.

Rahul Dravid’s incredible coaching journey has shaped the success of Indian cricket.

His unwavering dedication, strategic insights and nurturing the right talent have transformed the team.

India is grateful to him for his contributions and for inspiring generations. We are… pic.twitter.com/8MKSPqztDV

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 30, 2024

PM Modi congratulated Rohit Sharma for his “splendid captaincy” and praised Virat Kohli for his performance in the final match.

Dear @ImRo45,

You are excellence personified. Your aggressive mindset, batting and captaincy has given a new dimension to the Indian team. Your T20 career will be remembered fondly. Delighted to have spoken to you earlier today. pic.twitter.com/D5Ue9jHaad

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 30, 2024

Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – announced their T20I retirements yesterday. While Kohli announced his retirement minutes after the triumph, India captain Rohit Sharma announced it in the official post match press conference.

Dear @imVkohli,

Glad to have spoken to you. Like the innings in the Finals, you have anchored Indian batting splendidly. You’ve shone in all forms of the game. T20 Cricket will miss you but I am confident you’ll continue to motivate the new generation of players. pic.twitter.com/rw8fKvgTbA

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 30, 2024

PM Modi also praised Hardik Pandya for his final over and Suryakumar Yadav for his splendid catch on the boundary line to dismiss David Miller.

Home Minister Amit Shah also called Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma to congratulate them on the win.

In a video message, PM Modi yesterday had said that the team won the World Cup and also the “hearts of crores of Indians”. No small achievement that they did not lose a single match, he said.

“Champions! Our team brings the T20 World Cup home in style! We are proud of the Indian Cricket Team,” Prime Minister Modi posted on X – earlier known as Twitter.

The country witnessed euphoric celebrations last evening as Team India won the T20 World Cup, with fans flooding the streets carrying the Tricolour in their hands.

Social media was flooded with congratulatory messages and images of celebratory scenes as India edged past South Africa by seven runs in the final match of T20 World Cup 2024 at the Kensington Oval, Barbados to clinch an ICC title after 11 years.