ICC format changes "make sense from competitiveness stahndpoint": Ashwin
New Delhi, July 16
Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin backed the International Cricket Council's changes to the fixture format for the 2027 ODI World Cup and 2028 T20 World Cup but stressed the need for greater opportunities for emerging cricket nations to help expand the sport globally.
Ashwin, in a post on X, said the revised formats could improve competitiveness but added that more focus was needed on creating a stronger pathway for developing teams.
"The ICC's changes to the fixture format for the 2027 ODI World Cup and 2028 T20 World Cup make sense from a competitiveness standpoint," Ashwin wrote.
"But if the final goal is to grow the game, there needs to be a stronger pathway for emerging nations. Teams like the Netherlands, Scotland, Nepal, USA and Ireland need more meaningful matches ( FOR EXAMPLE: getting added as the third team into every bilateral series ), not just qualification tournaments," Ashwin added.
The former spinner further highlighted that the collective growth of cricket would play an important role in making the sport more attractive at the Olympics.
"Let's not forget, that collective growth will make this sport a spectacle at the Olympics," he concluded.
Earlier, the International Cricket Council (ICC) Board concluded its annual meetings on Wednesday in Edinburgh with decisions to evolve and enhance the marquee stature of its global events.
The Board, comprising three representatives from associate nations approved the recommendations it received from the Chief Executives' Committee (comprising Chief Executives & representatives from full & associate members) related to the formats of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup and the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, to create more meaningful contests, elevating competitive standards, strengthening the competitive structure of both events, and enhancing the tournament experience for athletes and fans, according to a media release from ICC.
The Board also approved the qualification structure for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2028, providing a clear pathway to qualification through regional events and the potential institution of a marquee global competition for associate member nations.
The Board approved an evolved competition format for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup that continues to feature 14 participating teams while delivering a more compelling tournament for athletes and fans.
The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup will see the participation of 14 eligible teams, but the revised format will entail a three-stage competition leading to the Finals, which creates greater context, competitiveness and consequence during the event, ensuring meaningful competition from the opening match through to the Finals.
The structure has been designed to strengthen the competitive narrative across every stage of the event, with matches from Round 1 and Round 2 carrying higher consequence, with a highly competitive Super 7 stage witnessing 7 qualifying teams going through a round-robin stage to qualify for the semi-finals. The increased consequence and enhanced competitive intensity promise to enhance the overall experience for fans while continuing to provide emerging teams with the opportunity to compete on cricket's biggest stage.
The ICC Men's T20 World Cup continues to be the platform for growing the broader universe of cricket's participating nations to compete in the ICC's pinnacle events.
Encouraged by the performance of emerging teams in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, the ICC has decided to increase the number of teams competing in the second stage of the tournament from 8 to 10, while maintaining the opportunity for emerging teams to qualify for that stage (2 teams continue to qualify from each group).
This promises to expand the representation of cricket's emerging nations in the Super 10 stage while also delivering higher competitive standards. The addition of 'eliminators', where the 2nd- and 3rd-ranked teams from groups in the Super 10 stage compete against each other for spots in the semi-finals, also adds significant consequence to the closing matches of the Super 10 stage.
For the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2028 qualification pathway, Scotland will enter directly into the Europe Regional Final, recognising the exceptional circumstances surrounding its participation in the 2026 tournament.
The remaining teams that competed at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 but did not secure automatic qualification will advance directly to the Global Qualifier. The other eight places in the Global Qualifier will be filled through regional qualification, with two teams each qualifying from Africa, Asia and Europe, and one team each from the Americas and East Asia-Pacific regions.
The highest-placed team from each region at the Global Qualifier, together with the next three highest-placed teams overall, will qualify for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2028, subject to minimum performance criteria.
The new marquee tournament has been endorsed by the Board after being recommended by the ICC Development and Chief Executives' Committees. However, it will be finally approved by the Board after review by ICC's Finance & Commercial Affairs committee in the November meetings.
— ANI
Reader Comments
As a cricket fan from the US, I appreciate Ashwin speaking up. We're hosting the 2024 T20 WC and our team has been improving, but without regular top-level matches it's hard to close the gap. The new format sounds good on paper but will it actually lead to more associate involvement? 🤔
Well said Ashwin! The 14-team WC format is good but the real issue is that emerging teams only play meaningful cricket every 4 years during qualifiers. Nepal, Scotland, and even USA have shown potential. If ICC wants cricket in the Olympics to be a spectacle, they need to invest in these nations now. Let's hope the 'marquee global competition' for associates actually materialises.
I agree with the competitiveness angle, but I worry that adding more teams to the Super 10 stage without proper preparation will just lead to lopsided matches. Remember when Canada and Namibia struggled in previous WCs? Ashwin's suggestion about including associates in bilateral series is the key—give them the exposure first, then expand the tournament.
Ashwin has always been a thoughtful cricketer and this is no different. His point about 'collective growth' for the Olympics is spot on—the Olympics is the best way to get more countries interested in cricket. But will ICC actually implement his suggestions? Historically, they've been slow to change. Let's see if this time it's different. 🤞
Good to see Ashwin talking about growing the game globally. The new format with more competitive stages sounds exciting, but I'm a bit skeptical about the
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.