ICC announces new name for T20 World Cup

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced that it had renamed the ICC World T20 as the ICC T20 World Cup. It further stated that the changes would come into effect for the men's and women's editions which will be held in Australia in 2020.

The cricket world governing body said that the decision of renaming the championship was made in the interest of enhancing the format so that it reaches the public and increases its popularity like its other formats.

"The renaming decision is aligned to the Global Cricket Strategy which will be launched in early 2019, in which the shortest format will not only be used as the vehicle to globalise the game, but to also enhance its profile and status and ensure its status is at par with the pinnacle events of the other two formats," the ICC said in a media release.

"The renaming of the event is also aimed at cementing the importance this event holds in the international cricket calendar and ensuring parity across all three formats of the game."

Furthermore, ICC's decision to rename the tournament was backed by several prominent figures in the cricketing fraternity. The most prominent to come to the forefront were South Africa's Faf du Plessis, India's men and women skipper Virat Kohli and Harmanpreet Kaur, who welcomed the change.

"Every format has an important part to play in the growth and sustainability of World Cricket. The Test Championship is going to revolutionalise the way that bi-lateral series are contested and will give relevance and stature to every Test series, this is going to help keep this format relevant and entertaining," said South Africa Faf du Plessis.

"I'm really excited for the opportunity to be part of the T20 World Cup in Australia. The pinnacle event for T20 cricket is rightly now the World Cup. India won the first edition of the World T20 in 2007 and it would be a great moment to hold the T20 World Cup trophy aloft in Australia," said Virat Kohli.

"This is an exciting tournament that teams get to play. It has brought together the best from around the world over the years and so I think the change in name is a natural progression," Indian women's team skipper Harmanpreet was quoted as saying by ICC.