India are very likely to win the T20 World Cup that they are currently co-hosting with Sri Lanka. They won the last one, in the US and the Caribbean, in mid-2024. They are also very likely to win the 2028 tournament in Australia and New Zealand and the 2030 tournament that is so far away that the hosts have yet to be chosen. This is because the Indian team have finally figured out how to capitalise on their incredible advantages in T20 cricket. When we think of India playing cricket’s shortest form, we should really be comparing it to the US men’s national team in basketball.

The sports league the IPL most resembles is the NBA

The sports league the IPL most resembles is the NBA

India has struggled to translate its enormous population, giant domestic audience and large share of global revenue into a period of dominance in either test match or one-day cricket. But T20 is different, because India has the Indian Premier League. The annual tournament makes more money in each of its ten-week seasons than the rest of the cricket world makes in a year. All the best foreign players want to play, which means it acts like a crucible for innovation. And because each team’s 25-man squad can have........

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