T20 World Cup 2022 to kick off from October 16, Melbourne Cricket Ground to host final on November 13
Seven host cities have been announced for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, with the tournament beginning on October 16 and ending with a final at the MCG under lights on November 13. 45 matches will be hosted across Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
The T20 World Cup 2022 will begin from October 16, with the final scheduled to be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground under lights on November 13, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.
Australia will defend the title on home soil after winning their maiden T20 World title by beating New Zealand in the final on Sunday in Dubai. The tournament will take place from October 16 to November 13 next year across seven cities in Australia with Sydney Cricket Ground Adelaide Oval hosting the semi-finals on Nov. 9 and 10.
Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart and Perth will are also set to stage the matches, providing current inter-state travel restrictions put in place to contain the spread of Covid-19 have been relaxed. The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) hosted the final of the 2020 women's T20 World Cup, attracting a record crowd of 86,174 to watch Australia beat India just as the new coronavirus first arrived in the country.
"Following the success of the ICC women's T20 World Cup in 2020 and a two year postponement, our sights are now firmly set on planning for the 2022 event," the ICC's head of events Chris Tetley said in a news release.
"With 12 teams already confirmed in the line-up, we eagerly await the culmination of the qualification process to see which other teams will join them."
Australia, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, India, Pakistan and South Africa have already qualified for the Super 12 stage of the tournament.
Namibia, Scotland, Sri Lanka and West Indies will feature in the opening round along with four other teams to be decided at qualifying tournaments in Oman and Zimbabwe next year.
Australia has never previously staged the men's T20 World Cup but the MCG has twice been the venue of the 50-overs World Cup final, most recently in 2015 when the hosts thrashed New Zealand in front of 93,013 fans.