Lately, things have been a bit unsettling for Pakistan, runners-up of the last T20 World Cup in 2022 in Australia and champions of the 2009 edition.

Mustafizur Rahman reignited expectations of him ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup following his impressive performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he scalped 14 wickets in nine matches.

The T20 World Cup is a familiar platform for Ireland --one of the two newest entrants in the ICC full members list alongside Afghanistan.

‘’We have enough’’ was the main theme in most of the answers Sri Lanka’s chief selector Upul Tharanga gave when asked about the shortcomings in power-hitting abilities in the squad.

Canada’s cricket scene is buzzing with excitement as they gear up for their historic debut at the T20 World Cup. This is a monumental achievement, marking a turning point for their developing cricket programme.

Netherlands arrive in the tournament by virtue of having secured automatic qualification, finishing in top-eight of the previous edition, but without veterans Roelof van der Merwe and Colin Ackerman as selectors opted for promising talents.

If for nothing else, there will be a lot of focus on USA for being the co-hosts of the global T20 tournament for the first time. And they would be undoubtedly willing to make a mark on their home soil, in front of the home crowd regardless.

Nepal were unfortunate not to go through to the Super 10s of the 2014 T20 World Cup, their debut campaign, as they were edged by Bangladesh on net run-rate.

Oman’s cricketing journey in the T20 World Cup began in 2016 and they co-hosted the 2021 edition with the UAE. However, their qualification bid fell short in 2022, as they finished fourth in the qualifiers.

If someone were wandering the streets of the USA and heard the sweet sound of a bat meeting ball, the immediate assumption might be that it’s a baseball game. However, it’s increasingly likely that this sound comes from a cricket match.