T20 World Cup 2024 has begun. It is the grandest festival in T20I cricket history with 20 teams from different continents playing in the tournament. ICC has put its best effort to make the sport global as there are so many new teams in this year’s T20 World Cup.
Even the co-hosts USA are hosting an ICC event of such importance for the first time ever. Being the co-hosts, USA earned a direct entry into the T20 World Cup. Apart from USA, the teams which are making their debut at the grand stage are Canada and Uganda.
While three nations are making their debut at the grand stage, here’s a list of the two teams which played in the inaugural edition of the T20 WC but are not playing this year.
1. Kenya did not qualify for T20 World Cup 2024
Two decades ago, African nation Kenya made history by qualifying for the semifinals of the 2003 ODI World Cup. It seemed like the Kenyan team would go on to become the next Test-playing nation, but their performances declined dramatically after that. They were humiliated by Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and have not returned to the mega event since then.
2. Zimbabwe
Another African country to feature on this list is Zimbabwe. They have witnessed several ups and downs in the cricket history. In 2022, Zimbabwe played in Super 12s and even defeated former champions Pakistan in a nail-biting thriller.
However, this year, the Zimbabwean outfit failed to qualify for the mega event. Uganda beat Zimbabwe in the Qualifying round to secure the African spot in the T20 World Cup.
