T20 World Cup 2026: Here's how associate nations continue to showcase their impressive run

In the blistering afternoon heat, amidst the rupturing sounds of the Arabian Sea hitting the breakers off theshores of Mumbai, Hearts kept ticking and racing at light speed in the Wankhede Stadium.

The iconic coliseum, which has been the beholder of some of the greatest spectacles in the world of cricket, resonated in unison not for their iconic king to break another record or for their beloved god to grace an occasion, but for Nepal, a country that is looking to beat a Test-playing nation,England for the first time and that too in an ICC event and cement their name in history.

As the equation in the last over came down to ten runs, the Himalayan Nation was about to scale the Everest. But before they could ascend to the peak of the summit, the Sherpas were held back by Sam Curran’s tactical bowling that helped the Three Lions get past the finish line in a nerve-wracking contest.

The gushing silence ensuing the Wankhede, which for a moment looked like a large-sized open theatre in Kathmandu, echoed all the way into the Arabian Sea. The Nepalese fans watched in distraught as victory slipped away from their team once again by the barest of margins.

Prior to this humdinger, the host nation India got a scare from the giant killers of the 2024 T20 World Cup, USA in the same venue. The Indian fans had their hearts in their mouth when skipper Surya Kumar Yadav was put down on 15 by Shubham Ranjane. The men in blue were reeling at 63 for 4, which could have been 63 for 5, had Ranjane bagged the return catch from SKY.

The dismissal would have meant that India might have had to settle for a below-par total, adding more pressure on a ‘Bumrahless’ bowling line-up.

From Coast-to-Coast similar tale ensued, this time in the east on the banks of the Hooghly River, England once again were pushed to the limit at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata by Italy. While the scenario might have reminded many of football, considering the rivalry they have in the sport and also the fact that the game was hosted in a city known for some of its passionate football fans, it was Cricket that caught the headlines.

Benjamin Menanti and Grant Stewart took the English bowlers to the cleaners, clobbering boundaries and sixes at will. The Italians almost had a pizza and pasta party by chasing England’s massive target of 203 runs, but fell short by 24 runs.

The Clichéd pattern continued when Afghanistan almost stole the game from South Africa from under their nose in a double super over in Ahmedabad. On the other hand, Pakistan might have been derailed by the Dutch (Netherlands), if Max O’ Dowd had not dropped Faheem Ashraf in the opening game of the tournament in Colombo.

But keeping the ‘What if’ debate aside, the associate nations have delivered a strong message to the bigger teams and the ICC that they are not going to give away any freebies. And if they are going down, it’s not going to be without a fight.

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The efforts and the sacrifices made by some of the players from these teams are truly remarkable. It only goes on to show that the T20 World Cup is truly serving its purpose of making cricket a global sport.

Furthermore, the success of these teams will serve as an encouragement for some of the other associate nations to do better and qualify for the upcoming ICC events.

However, unlike 2024, which saw the USA qualify for the Super 8s, none of the associate nations made it to the second round this time. Even Afghanistan, a Test-playing nation that qualified for the semi-final in 2024, did not qualify for the Super 8s.

Albeit the minnows did give the big nations a scare and shivers down their spine, none of them gave them the killer blow or the final nail in the coffin that would have increased their qualification chances and pushed the biggies to the brink.

What seems to be amiss among these teams is the fact that none of them is able to capitalize on the key moments of the game. They are also lacking game awareness, which is clearly evident from the way they are conceding the momentum to the opposition after reaching a strong or commanding position.

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They also have to work on the fundamentals of the game, like taking catches and calibrating their strategies around how the pitch will actually play.

Adding to this, these teams will also have to start building a domestic structure and allow players to participate in franchise cricket like IPL and BBL. This will ensure more financial security for players and an increased salary cap.

The cricket boards must send their teams to the bigger Test-playing nations on A-tours, which will increase their experience and exposure. This will enable them to be more consistent in future ICC events.

Now that the 2026 T20 World Cup moves on to the super 8 stage, the associate nations will have to go back to the drawing board and plug the gaping holes before the 2028 T20 World Cup, which is set to take place down under in Australia and New Zealand.