Last match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Region Final is currently underway, with Italy batting first against the Netherlands. If Italy either wins this match, or lose it by a small margin then they qualify for the T20I World Cup of 2026. But ramifications of a win today is much more than that. Participation fee for the 2024 T20I World Cup was $225,000 and additionally, $31,154 per match was distributed among the winners of each match. And these amounts are much higher than the annual funding received by Italy from the ICC.
Italy lost this match by a big margin, In fact the Netherlands team won it by 9 wickets. But good luck for them that even after having a poor defeat, they qualified for the T20 World Cup that would be played next year in India. This is Italy first ever participation in any ICC tournament and man they are happy. Their captain Joe Burns told the media that they gonna win every match they play in the world cup. High ambitions from the captain and the team.
Anyways, I felt sad for the Scotland team. I really wished they would have Qualified with Netherlands, but that didn't happen. They play more better cricket than Italy but somehow can't make it.
I would be really happy to see a new team in an ICC tournament. Most of us may not be familiar with Italian cricket. Even I am not familiar with Italian cricket at all. But today I was a little surprised and happy to see this news about Italy in the local media. Because, we are going to get to know a new team in the ICC tournament. After the bad news in Italian football, the good news in cricket is definitely bringing some food to the minds of Italian fans. I think, to increase the popularity of cricket, it is necessary to increase the number of teams in ICC tournaments, especially in T20. Then maybe we will be able to get to know new teams like Italy and the number of cricket fans in the world will increase.