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The period lasting from the year 1998
to 2001 was can be traced back as the time of origin of Twenty20
cricket. However, it was in the year 2001 that the idea of a shortened
form of cricket, earlier discussed by England and Wales Cricket Board
(ECB), began to take a concrete shape. The concept of 40-over game, with
20 overs per innings, was presented to the county chairman in the same
year and later, passed with a voting of 11-7, 11 in favor and 7 against.
Soon, the new form of cricket was given the name of Twenty20, more
popularly T20.
T20 Cricket was formally introduced to
the world in 2003, when ECB launched the Twenty20 Cup, along with slogan
“I don’t like cricket, I love it”. The same year, the first Twenty20
cricket tournament was organized in England, with various county cricket
teams. The tournament proved to be a success, with thousands of
spectators filling the England’s cricket stadiums, a first in many
decades. Soon, other cricket playing nations of the world also started
to take notice of Twenty20 cricket.
Soon after the first Twenty20 cricket
tournament was played and became overnight success, South Africa,
Australia and the West Indies also organized similar tournaments, which
again attracted huge cricket audience. In the year 2005, history was
created, when Twenty20 cricket made its international debut, with the
first T20 International being played, between Australia and New Zealand
at Eden Park. As the popularity of the new form of cricket started
rising, surpassing that of even ODIs and Tests, the game was taken more
seriously.
By 2007, the popularity of Twenty20 had gained such
heights that ICC organized the first international Twenty20 tournament,
rather the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup, creating another history of
sorts. With South Africa as the host, the tournament included 10 Test
playing nations, apart from ICC associate nations - Kenya and Scotland.
India won the first ICC T20 World Cup, beating Pakistan in the finals.
ICC World Twenty20 Details (Since 2007)
| Year | Host | Winner | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | South Africa | India | Pakistan |
| 2009 | England | Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
| 2010 | West Indies | England | Australia |
| 2012 | Sri Lanka | West Indies | Sri Lanka |
| 2014 | Bangladesh | Sri Lanka | India |
| 2016 | India | TBD | TBD |
