World Cup 2023 Qualifiers begin with Scotland Tri-series

Qualifiers

Cricket crowned a new 50-over world champion on 14th July. Just in 30 days from the marquee events, three teams will start their journey towards an elusive spot in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. Scotland will host a tri-series starting tomorrow (14th August) which features Oman and Papua New Guinea. The competition marks the beginning of the 2023 World Cup qualifiers.

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League 2

The ICC recently released the schedule of ‘League 2’. It sits beneath the Men’s CWC Super League and it is the first hurdle that the associate teams need to clear in order to qualify for the World Cup. The league consists of following seven teams; Namibia, Nepal, Oman, PNG, Scotland, UAE and USA. Each team will play 36 ODIs over two and a half years from August 2019 to January 2022. All matches shall be played in a triangular series, the teams will partake in 21 tri-series.

The qualification scenario

The three top teams from League 2 will confirm their place in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2022. They will be joined by bottom five teams from the Super League (12 Full members + The Netherlands). Bottom four teams of the League 2 will drop into the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-Off 2022. Only two teams from the Play-Off will get to play in the 2022 Qualifier. Ultimately, only two teams from the 2022 Qualifier will play in the World Cup.

Super League

The ICC has devised an ODI Super League which includes 12 full member nations and the Netherlands. This league will be played from 1st May 2020 to 31st March 2022. Every team will play a three-match series against eight opponents during the cycle. Four of these will be home series. Top eight teams at the conclusion shall directly seal a spot in the World Cup.

Hosts India shall qualify regardless of their performance. If they end up outside the top seven teams, bottom five teams excluding India will go into the qualifiers.