As the teams gather for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean, get ready to witness some history in the making.

With the format known for its record-breaking feats, let’s take a look at some of the records that could be broken in this edition of the tournament.

Virat Kohli has scored 103 fours in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and is just behind Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardena’s 111 fours. Kohli already holds the record for the highest run tally in the tournament, and the chase master will aim to add another accolade to his name in this edition.

Rohit Sharma who is fourth on the list with 91 fours will also look to get to the top spot as will David Warner, who has 86 fours to his name now.

Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 53-ball 82* to help India secure an opening victory against Pakistan in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 encounter.

Fastest Hundred (by balls)

With 47- and 50-ball centuries, Chis Gayle currently holds the top two spots for the fastest century in the Men’s T20 World Cup. With Nepal’s Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton setting the fastest overall T20 century at just 33 balls this year, this record could very well be under threat. With the expanded teams in this edition and the high strike-rates witnessed already this year, expect this record to be broken in this edition.

Most catches by a fielder

AB de Villiers currently sits at the top of the table for most catches as a fielder in the Men’s T20 World Cup with 23 catches to his name. David Warner is next on the list with 21 catches.

The Australian will look to get this record in his name as he gears up to play another T20 World Cup. Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell are also in the running for the pole position as they both are joint-fourth in the list with 16 catches each.

First team to win all ICC Trophies at the same time

Pat Cummins led Australia to history last year when they won the ICC Test Championship and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2023.

In the Caribbean this year they have the opportunity to become the first team in history to hold the ICC Trophies in all three formats of the game at the same time if they manage to win the 2024 T20 World Cup.

In addition to this, Australia are also the defending champions in the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup as well.

Australia lift the World Cup for a record sixth occasion | CWC23

Australia chased down the India total by the 43rd over mark.

Most Runs in a single edition of the tournament

With the total number of teams expanding from 16 to a record 20 in this edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, teams have the potential to play up to nine matches in the tournament.

With this increase in matches, one can expect the record of total runs accumulated in a single edition to be challenged. Currently, the record belongs to Virat Kohli who scored 319 runs in 6 matches in the 2014 edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Broadcasting news!

Ariana Television Network (ATN) announced last week that it has secured the rights to broadcast this year’s T20 World Cup in Afghanistan.

News, updates and information on the event will be published regularly on Ariana News website and digital platforms so be sure to stay tuned.

Canada and Nepal kicked off the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up action at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas on Monday, which saw Canada steamroll their way to a 63-run victory over Nepal.

After being put in to bat first, Canada lit up the first innings with great ball striking on display as they smashed away at 9.15 runs per over.

Despite struggling at 135/7 in the 18th over, Canada finished strong by scoring 55 runs in the last three overs.

In contrast, Nepal found it difficult to keep up with the required run rate of 9.2 in their chase of 184.

Canada will be playing the Netherlands on 31 May in their next warm-up match in Dallas, meanwhile, Nepal will be going head-to-head with co-hosts USA at the same ground on 30 May.

In the other warm-up fixtures on Monday, Oman defeated Papua New Guinea by three wickets and Namibia registered a five-wicket triumph over Uganda.

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up match fixtures started Monday, May 27 and will run through until June 1. These matches will be played in the US and in Trinidad and Tobago.

The venues hosting the 16 warm-up matches ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 include Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Texas, Broward County Stadium in Florida, Queen’s Park Oval and Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.

A total of 17 teams play the warm-up games.

These warm-up fixtures will be 20 overs per side and will not have international T20 status, allowing teams to field all members of their 15-player squad.

Afghanistan will play their first warm up match against Oman at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago.

The team’s second warm up match will be played against Scotland on Friday at the same venue.

Warm up matches are as follows:

Tuesday 28 May

Sri Lanka v Netherlands, Broward County Stadium, Broward County, Florida 10h30
Bangladesh v USA, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas 10h30
Australia v Namibia, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 19h00

Wednesday 29 May

South Africa intra-squad, Broward County Stadium, Broward County, Florida 10h30
Afghanistan v Oman, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 13h00

Thursday 30 May

Nepal v USA, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas 10h30
Scotland v Uganda, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago 10h30
Netherlands v Canada, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas 15h00
Namibia v Papua New Guinea, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago 15h00
West Indies v Australia, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 19h00

Friday 31 May

Ireland v Sri Lanka, Broward County Stadium, Broward County, Florida 10h30
Scotland v Afghanistan, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 10h30

Saturday 1 June

Bangladesh v India, Venue TBC USA

Sunrisers suffered a horrible system failure on the biggest stage of all as they collapsed to a miserable 113 all out in 18.3 overs after choosing to bat first and Venkatesh Iyer’s 52* from just 26 balls (4×4, 3×6) led KKR to 114-2 in just 10.3 overs to conclude a well-deserved third title.

Kolkata bowled out Sunrisers for 113, a total they overhauled with 9.3 overs to spare as Venkatesh Iyer hammered an unbeaten 52 in Chennai.

Afghan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz anchored the run-chase with 39 from 32 balls after the early dismissal of Sunil Narine (6) allowing Iyer to crash his team to victory in the company of captain, Shreyas Iyer (6*).

KKR delivered a stunning bowling and fielding performance led by league’s most expensive player, Mitchell Starc, who struck in the first over bowling Abhishek Sharma (2) with a brute of an away-swinger before finishing with 2-14 from just three overs.

The Knight Riders were the outstanding team throughout the league stage of the tournament, comfortably finishing top of the standings with nine wins and just three losses from their 14 matches finishing three points clear of the Sunrisers in second place.

In the first Qualifier Match between the two teams KKR prevailed by eight wickets to secure direct passage to the final while the Sunrisers took the ‘difficult’ route by beating the Rajasthan Royals by 36 runs in the second Eliminator Match.

Despite an awkward pitch it was a mere formality for the Knight Riders to clinch their third IPL title with Venkatesh clipping, whipping and driving boundaries seemingly at will.

Battling blitz

This match was the last act of this year’s IPL, which turned out to be a campaign where batters dominated like never before.

The batting blitz however, in the Indian Premier League this year, has divided fans and players and triggered debate ahead of the World Cup about what it means for Twenty20 cricket.

Sunrisers Hyderabad twice broke the IPL scoring record this year with innings of 277 and 287.

Veteran cricket journalist Ayaz Memon told AFP the big scores in the IPL over the past two months were taking something away from the game.

“People love to watch sixes and fours,” Memon said.

“But beyond that they also like a good contest.”

The impact player rule – and smarter use of it – has been pinpointed as the biggest reason for the skyscraper totals in the 17th edition of the IPL.

It will not be in play at the World Cup, which begins on Saturday in the United States and West Indies.

The concept was introduced last year in the IPL and allows the replacement of a player named in the starting team at any point after the toss.

The rule allows teams batting first to play an extra big-hitting batsman down the order, who can then be replaced by a bowler when they field.

Alternatively, a bowler can be replaced if they bat second.
Opponents of the rule say it has upset the fine balance between batter and bowler that gives cricket its drama.

Flatter IPL pitches and shorter boundaries have also played a part, pundits say.

Bowlers have found it particularly tough to stop the batting onslaught in the first six overs of powerplay when only two fielders are allowed outside the inner circle.

“If it gets too lopsided in favor of batsmen because of the nature of pitches and shorter boundaries, then it can get a little predictable – in that the bowlers have a reduced role,” Memon said.

He noted that even Virat Kohli – who leads the tournament batting charts with 741 runs for Royal Challengers Bengaluru – said “there needs to be a balance between bat and ball”.

Young stars including Australia’s Jake Fraser-McGurk (Delhi Capitals) and England’s Will Jacks (Bengaluru) have made hay in this IPL with punishing strike rates of over 234 and 175 respectively.

India’s premier spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin says pinning the big innings this season solely on the impact of sub rule is doing batsmen a disservice.

“Even if the impact player rule wasn’t there, scores would be this high,” Ashwin, of Rajasthan Royals, was quoted saying this week.”In my opinion, batters have more confidence and pitches everywhere have been standardised.”

He added: “In the future, all bowlers will need to be hitters because we know that no matter how well we bowl, we also need to be able to bat.

“The game is headed in that direction.”

But many players and pundits say it is too early to say whether the big-hitting trend will extend to T20 cricket beyond this IPL.

Australia’s veteran opening batsman David Warner does not foresee a run-fest at the World Cup, and not just because there will be no impact sub rule.

Warner says the pitches in the West Indies in particular will have something for the bowlers.

“They can be slower and they’re gonna turn a bit,” Warner, 37, told reporters last month, leaning on his experience in the Caribbean Premier League.

He added: “It’s gonna be completely different there. Add the natural elements as well. They’re going to be predominantly day games, I think, because of the timings.

“So that plays a big factor,” Warner said.

What’s next

After wrapping up IPL, Ariana Television Network (ATN) will proudly broadcast the T20 World Cup 2024 exclusively on Ariana Television.

For more details on the upcoming event be sure to stay tuned and watch this space.