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Delhi: The International Cricket Council has approved major changes in the format of the two biggest tournaments of men’s cricket, the ODI World Cup and the T20 World Cup. These changes were approved in the annual meeting of the ICC Board held in Edinburgh, Scotland. ICC believes that the new format will make every match of the tournament more competitive and exciting than before, while emerging teams will also get more opportunities to prove themselves.

Apart from this, the board has made changes in the qualification system of the 2028 T20 World Cup. At the same time, the proposal for a new 16-team global tournament for associate countries has also been approved. However, the final approval for this new tournament is expected in November.

What changed in the format of ODI World Cup?

The number of teams in the One Day World Cup will remain the same at 14, but the format of the tournament will change completely. Earlier there were two groups in the tournament, from where the teams reached the Super Six. Now a new three-stage system will be implemented in its place.

First phase: Super Series

First of all, the teams ranked 12th, 13th and 14th in the qualification will play round-robin matches among themselves. After the end of this round only the team will advance to the next round.

Second stage: two groups, 12 teams

The team that wins the Super Series will join the remaining 11 already qualified teams. After this, 6-6 teams will be divided into two groups and a total of 30 matches will be played. The top-3 teams of each group and one additional team performing better among the fourth-placed teams in both the groups will make it to the Super-7.

Third stage: Super-7

Now all seven teams will play against each other. That means each team will have to play six matches and there will be a total of 21 matches. After this, the top-4 teams in the points table will reach the semi-finals. The first semi-final will be played between the first and fourth placed teams, while the second semi-final will be played between the second and third placed teams. Both the winners will reach the final. ICC believes that this format will increase the importance of every match of the group stage and it will not be easy for any team to take the initial matches lightly.

What changed in the format of T20 World Cup?

ICC has not made any changes in the team numbers of the 20-team T20 World Cup, but the structure of the tournament will be completely new.

group stage

Earlier 20 teams were divided into 4 groups (5-5 teams). Now 5 groups (4-4 teams) will be formed. With this, the group stage matches will be reduced from 40 to 30. The top two teams of each group will advance to the next round.

super-10 stage

Now Super-10 will be played instead of Super-8. In this, 10 teams will be divided into two groups, in which each group will include 5-5 teams. There will be a total of 20 matches in this phase.

New rule for semi-final qualification

The first placed teams of both the groups will directly reach the semi-finals. At the same time, the second placed teams will compete against the third placed teams of the other group in the eliminator. Both the teams winning the eliminator will reach the semi-finals.

This change means that only the top teams in Super-10 will get direct benefit, while the second and third placed teams will have to play additional matches.

Changes in 2028 T20 World Cup qualification also

ICC has also approved a new qualification system for the 2028 T20 World Cup. Scotland will get direct entry into the Europe Regional Final due to special circumstances. Those teams playing the 2026 T20 World Cup, which will not be able to qualify directly for 2028, will get direct entry in the Global Qualifier.

The remaining eight places will be filled through regional qualifiers. In these, two teams each from Africa, Asia and Europe will be included. At the same time, one team each from America and East Asia-Pacific region will get a chance. After this, the best team from each region from the Global Qualifier and three other teams on the basis of overall performance will get the ticket for the 2028 T20 World Cup.

New tournament for associate countries

ICC has also supported the proposal to start a new 16-team global tournament for Associate Member countries. Its objective is to provide regular international matches to the emerging cricket teams and improve their level.

However, this tournament has not yet received final approval. A final decision on this will be taken after review by the Finance and Business Committee in the ICC Board meeting to be held in November.