Major Shake-Up in Italian Camp as Captain Joe Burns Dropped Before World Cup

ICC T20 World Cup, which is set to begin on the 7th of February and will be jointly organized by India and Sri Lanka, will also make its first appearance in this World Cup. It will be the first time that the Italian national cricket team will be witnessed on the international stage. However, even before the selection of players for participating in this tournament, news has broken out from the Italian side that the regular team captain, Joe Burns, has now been left out of the team, thereby replacing the experienced player Wayne Madsen.

With Joe Burns as their captain, Italy secured a spot in the T20 World Cup by coming second in the European Qualifiers for the ICC T20 World Cup. But now, the captain is unavailable after leaving the team before the onset of the T20 World Cup. The Italian Cricket Federation stated that discussions between Burns and the federation did not yield any results, and no formal contract was reached. Following this, the team has now been handed over to 41-year-old veteran batsman Wayne Madsen. The federation thanked Burns for his contributions to Italy.

The Italian team is set to participate in a global cricket tournament for the first time. Italy finished second behind the Netherlands in the European Regional Qualifiers for the ICC T20 World Cup held in the Netherlands, securing a direct berth for the World Cup. Italy will be placed in Group C of the ICC T20 World Cup, where they will face England, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the West Indies. Italy will play their first match in the T20 World Cup against Bangladesh in Kolkata on February 9.

Prior to the tournament, Italy will play Ireland in a three-match T20I series in Dubai, starting January 23. This will be Italy's first bilateral series against an ICC Full Member team.