What is T20 Cricket? What to know for the 2026 World Cup in India

The International Cricket Council's (ICC) Men's T20 World Cup returns for an all-new edition this month and the United States cricket team will be participating in the fixtures hosted in India and Sri Lanka.

Twenty teams are set to participate in the thrilling tournament of 54 matches from Feb. 7 to March 8. Matches will be played across eight venues in seven cities including Ahmedabad, Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata in India and Colombo and Kandy in Sri Lanka. Debuting this season is Italy, following in the footsteps of the U.S., Canada and Uganda, who played their first matches in the last edition, according to ICC.

"The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is uniquely competitive, thrilling and expressive, where moments turn into life-long memories for players and fans alike," ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta said in a statement.

India enters the tournament as defending champions after winning the previous World Cup in 2024, which was hosted by the U.S. and West Indies. In its 10-year history, the World Cup has had six different winners including West Indies (2012, 2016), India (2007, 2024), England (2010, 2022), Australia (2021), Pakistan (2009) and Sri Lanka (2014).

If you're a newbie or looking to brush up on your cricket knowledge, here's some information that will help you become familiar.

What is T20 Cricket? How many overs are in a T20 match?

The T20 format of cricket is one of the shorter forms of the sport, with each match consisting of 20 overs.

First introduced at the professional level in 2003 in England, the format quickly generated buzz worldwide, and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was launched in 2007 to attract new audiences to the sport, as per the ICC.

How long is a T20 cricket match?

Each T20 game lasts approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes, on average, as per the ICC.

Key terms to understanding T20 Cricket

Over

When a bowler delivers a ball from one end of the pitch to the batsman at the other end six times, it is called an "over."

Runs

Runs are the number of times the two playing batsmen run between the stumps. They are the defining part of the game as they decide the score for each match.

Toss

Before the game begins, a toss is conducted between the captains, and the team that wins the toss gets to decide whether they want to bat first or field first.

Each over has 6 deliveries or balls. The T20 cricket format has 20 overs which means 120 balls or deliveries by the fielding team.

Out

A batsman "gets out" when a bowler either hits the stumps behind him or if a fielder catches the ball before it hits the ground. In simple terms, out is when a playing batsman is dismissed.

Wicket

In the game of cricket, a wicket is the trio of stumps and two bails behind the batsmen. The cricket pitch has two wickets at opposite ends of the pitch during the game, with two batsmen on the field at the same time during play, one at each wicket.

The term is also used when a batsman is dismissed by a bowler or fielder, who hits the stump with the ball.

Six

A team scores a six when the ball lands outside the boundary of the ground without bouncing inside.

Four

A team scores four points when the ball crosses the boundary, bouncing at least once inside the boundary.

Century

A century is when a batsman completes 100 runs without getting out.

A half century is scored when a batsman completes 50 runs without getting out.

Duck

A duck is when a batsman is dismissed without scoring any runs.

Run rate

The run rate is the average number of runs scored per over and is used to guide and predict the team's progress.

Dead ball

A dead ball is one from which no wickets can be taken, and runs cannot be scored.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@usatodayco.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

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