Twenty20 T20 World Cup Cricket 2009 Schedule

Twenty20 (T20) World Cup 2009 is going to start 5 June 2009. It is the second edition of this tournament. The first edition took place in 2007 in South Africa and India and Pakistan played in the final match in which India won and became champion. Now, T20 World Cup 2009 is going to take place in England. You know that England is the home of cricket but the country is no longer a formidable power in this sports. In fact, cricket has lost its popularity in the country and now, Football is the number one sports in England. Everyone who is related to cricket are hoping that this world cup will bring some excitement back to English cricket not to mention that some money will come too to English Cricket Board ECB.

Already the schedule has been announced and I am going to give the schedule at this entry a little later.

ICC World Twenty20 2009 Schedule Fixture

Stage	Date	Competing Teams (Group)	Time	Venue
Group Stage	June 5 2009	England vs Netherlands (Group B)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Lord’s, London
	June 6 2009	New Zealand vs Scotland (Group D)	Local 10:00; GMT 09:00	Kennington Oval, London
		Australia vs West Indies (Group C)	Local 13:30; GMT 12:30	Kennington Oval, London
		Bangladesh vs India (Group A)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
	June 7 2009	Scotland vs South Africa (Group D)	Local 13:30; GMT 12:30	Kennington Oval, London
		England vs Pakistan (Group B)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Kennington Oval, London
	June 8 2009	Bangladesh vs Ireland (Group A)	Local 13:30; GMT 12:30	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
		Australia vs Sri Lanka (Group C)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
	June 9 2009	Netherlands vs Pakistan (Group B)	Local 13:30; GMT 12:30	Lord’s, London
		New Zealand vs South Africa (Group D)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Lord’s, London
	June 10 2009	Sri Lanka vs West Indies (Group C)	Local 13:30; GMT 12:30	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
		India vs Ireland (Group A)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Super Eight	June 11 2009	D1 vs A2 (Group F)	Local 13:30; GMT 12:30	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
		B2 vs D2 (Group E )	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
	June 12 2009	B1 vs C2 (Group F)	Local 13:30; GMT 12:30	Lord’s, London
		A1 vs C1 (Group E)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Lord’s, London
	June 13 2009	C1 vs D2 (Group E)	Local 13:30; GMT 12:30	Kennington Oval, London
		D1 vs B1 (Group F)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Kennington Oval, London
	June 14 2009	A2 vs C2 (Group F)	Local 13:30; GMT 12:30	Lord’s, London
		A1 vs B2 (Group E)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Lord’s, London
	June 15 2009	B2 vs C1 (Group E)	Local 13:30; GMT 12:30	Kennington Oval, London
		B1 vs A2 (Group F)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Kennington Oval, London
	June 16 2009	D1 vs C2 (Group F)	Local 13:30; GMT 12:30	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
		D2 vs A1 (Group E)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Semi Final	June 18 2009	TBC vs TBC (1st Semi Final)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
	June 19 2009	TBC vs TBC (2nd Semi Final)	Local 17:30; GMT 16:30	Kennington Oval, London
Final	June 21 2009	TBC vs TBC	Local 15:00; GMT 14:00	Lord’s, London

Let us take a look at the four groups one by one. I Group the teams are: Bangladesh, India and Ireland. Here, India is undoubtedly the strongest team and after that Bangladesh. Ireland is a weak opposition and it seems that India will become top in the group and Bangladesh will be in the second position. However, I do not think that the calculation is so simple. In World Cup 2007 in West Indies, Bangladesh defeated India and as a result, India could not go in to the second round. Ireland also defeated Pakistan. So, I would not get shocked if there is any major upset in this group. However, it will be a big tragedy if the same thing happens like 2007 World Cup and India gets out from the first round.

Group B has also 3 teams: England, Netherlands and Pakistan. Here, Netherlands is a very weak team and the fight for supremacy of the group will take place between England and Pakistan. English has home advantage and this may be a crucial factor. Pakistan should be a formidable force in this tournament but they have one big problem- ICL. Some of their leading specialist T20 players are involved with ICL and it is not clear whether they can play in the tournament or not.

In Group C the teams are: Australia, Sri Lanka and West Indies. I think that it is the group of death because All of them are test teams and they are very strong. In fact, all of them have got the taste of winning World Cup. Australia is the world champion and they should be hot favorite to win the group. However, don’t forget that in Twenty20, Australia is not a super power yet. You cannot ignore Sri Lanka who have some special players and can defeat anytime anyone. West Indies is some weak but they have some hard hitting batsmen. So, it is too close to predict.

In Group D, New Zealand and South Africa are going to play. Well, here, I think that New Zealand and South Africa will not have any problem to go to the second round.

At this moment, there is IPL 2009 and as a result, many fans in India are busy with enjoying IPL. I just hope that IPL effect does not pale the attraction of Twenty20 World Cup 2009. Well, I do not think that it will happen because IPL is mainly limited to cricket fans in India. People of other country are not that much bothered about it. On the other hand, in T20 World Cup, their own countries are playing. For example, people of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia or Pakistan have nothing to shout for in Indian Premier League because the clubs are named on Indian cities. Instead, during T20 World Cup, they have everything to cheer about as their countries are playing. They do not need cheerleaders dancing to create excitement.

Nevertheless, I think that the experience of IPL will be good for the players from different countries.

Already some teams have started to announce their teams. Today, I think that Bangladesh have announced their squad. Pakistan is contemplating on the idea of bringing back 3 players from ICL for their squad. New Zealand has perhaps some plan but we have not heard anything about it yet.

T20 World Cup 2009 is coming at a time when we hear some reports in the media about the American Premier League (APL) in October 2009. Cricket is not still popular in USA at all. This is an interesting development. What I understand is that the organizers of American Premier League will keep a close eye on Twenty20 World Cup 2009 and look for any promising new player. Their target will be smaller countries like Ireland, New Zealand, Bangladesh and even West Indies. So, if any player plays well from these countries then APL may come out attractive offer to that player. ICC and BCCI are trying to stop APL.

In this blog, we are going to give a lot of coverage to the event hopefully.