Cricket's 'Test Twenty' format introduced

The formal introduction of the fourth format of cricket, ‘Test Twenty’, has opened a new chapter in the world of cricket.

The new format is a combination of ‘Test cricket and T20’, which will be launched in the year 2026 with the ‘Junior Test Twenty Championship’.

This tournament is reserved for young players aged 13 to 19. The aim is to give emerging players a chance to showcase their talents on the world stage, that too in a completely unique style of cricket.

Test Twenty founder and CEO Gaurav Beherwani announced the format along with renowned players of world cricket, including AB de Villiers, Matthew Hayden, Harbhajan Singh and Sir Claudio Lloyd.

All these personalities described this format as the future of cricket and a great opportunity for young players.

Rules of the new format

Under the new format, each team will play 2 innings, each of which will consist of 20 overs, thus the total match will be 80 overs.

The duration of the match has been kept for only one day, while the match results have room for win, loss, tie and conditional draw.

If the batting side has 5 wickets remaining in the second innings, it can declare the match a draw, otherwise the result of the match will be mandatory.

Which teams will be involved?

Initially, 6 franchises will participate in the Test Twenty Championship, including three Indian and three international teams.

Co-ownership of each franchise will be given to the children of famous cricketers, actors and businessmen, so that the game can be connected to the new generation.

How will players be selected?

There are two routes for selecting players: one is direct entry, which will be selected on the recommendations of renowned coaches or cricketers, and the other is standard entry, in which young players from around the world will be selected through AI systems, motion sensors, and data intelligence.

In the first phase, 1000 players will be selected, who will later be tested under the Test Twenty Intelligence Index (TTII).

Out of these, 300 players will be included in the global auction, while 96 players will be selected from 6 franchises. The remaining 204 players will go to the wild card pool.

Match rules

The rules and regulations of the format are also unique. The power play will be held only once and will consist of 4 overs, the time of which will be decided by the captain.

If a team is all out before 10 overs in the first innings, 3 extra overs will be added to the other team's innings. A limit of 5 bowlers has been set for bowling and each bowler will be able to bowl a maximum of 8 overs.

Penalties for no-balls and whites have been tightened, and if there are 3 or more no-balls or whites in an over, the batting team will be awarded 3 extra runs. A penalty of 5 runs and a strategic time-out will also be deducted for a slow over-rate.

In the event of a tie, there will be a “super session”, i.e. a deciding phase of one over. If there is no result there, the team that hits more boundaries will be declared the winner.