The ninth edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will take place in the USA and West Indies from June 1 to 29, 2024. It will be the biggest-ever edition of the tournament, with 20 teams vying for the trophy for the first time.

The Jos Buttler-led England are the defending champions of Men’s T20 World Cup. They defeated Pakistan in the final during the last edition of the tournament in 2022 in Australia.

Ahead of the start of the 2024 T20 World Cup, former Australian cricketer and USA head coach Stuart Law has made a bold claim about the tournament.

The 55-year-old, who led USA to 2-1 series win against Bangladesh in his first assignment as the newly appointed head coach, said that his team had come with greater intent to win than the opposition. According to him, no team is ultimate favourites to win the upcoming T20 World Cup.

“We had more desire and passion about the game in the first two matches,” said Law after the final T20I.

Bangladesh were able to bounce back in the last match with a 10-wicket win after an inspiring bowling performance from Mustafizur Rahman as he registered his career-best T20I figures of 6/10.

As the series win was locked, USA rested key players – captain Monank Patel, opener Steven Taylor, all-rounder Harmeet Singh and fast bowler Ali Khan – to put their bench to the test with the T20 World Cup fast approaching.

“We wanted it a bit more than what they did. Today it was a different story. We may have relaxed a little bit. Bangladesh played pretty well. They will take this in their stride.

It is great preparation. Playing games is so much better than hitting balls in the nets. Anything can happen in one-off games. That’s what the World Cup is like. No one goes in as ultimate favourites,” said Law.

“We were in a privileged position today with the series in our hands. It was nice to give opportunities to other players. We wanted to make sure everyone had a game before they go into the World Cup, which will be cut-throat. Every game will be like a final. We have had two very good performances in the two wins here,” he added.

USA, the co-hosts of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, are placed in Group A with India, Pakistan, Ireland and Canada with their first match scheduled on 1 June against Canada in Dallas.