R. Ashwin mentioned, groups just like the Netherlands, Scotland, Nepal, USA and Eire want extra significant matches, not simply qualification tournaments for the collective progress that may make this sport a spectacle on the Olympics. File
| Picture Credit score: Okay. Murali Kumar
Indian Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday (July 16, 2026) mentioned the structural adjustments made to the ODI and T20 World Cup codecs to incorporate extra groups make sense however for the sport to turn out to be really international, the ICC wants so as to add the decrease rung sides into each bilateral sequence.
Following the revamp introduced by the ICC on Wednesday (July 15, 2026), the 2027 ODI World Cup will probably be a three-stage competitors and the 2028 T20 World Cup’s Tremendous 8 part will probably be expanded to accommodate 10 groups to realize “better context and consequence”.
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Ashwin mentioned the world physique is planning in the proper route however must do extra. “The ICC’s adjustments to the fixture format for the 2027 ODI World Cup and 2028 T20 World Cup make sense from a competitiveness standpoint. But when the ultimate purpose is to develop the sport, there must be a stronger pathway for rising nations,” Ashwin posted on ‘X’.
“Groups just like the Netherlands, Scotland, Nepal, USA and Eire want extra significant matches (for instance getting added because the third group into each bilateral sequence), not simply qualification tournaments. Let’s not overlook, that collective progress will make this sport a spectacle on the Olympics,” he added. His views align with the demand for extra significant video games by groups like Nepal and Scotland who confirmed spark within the T20 World Cup earlier this 12 months.
The 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa will function 14 groups as deliberate earlier than, up from the ten within the earlier version, however the governing physique has added a Tremendous Sequence spherical previous to the ‘Group spherical’ and a Tremendous 7 stage earlier than the semifinals in its bid to boost the competitors.
The groups that may qualify twelfth to 14th for the match will play the Tremendous Sequence spherical and the highest finisher will progress to spherical two of the competitors that may see six groups divided into two teams. Prime three groups from every group plus the following highest positioned group throughout each teams will qualify for the Tremendous 7 stage as a substitute of the Tremendous 6 deliberate earlier. 4 best-placed groups from the Tremendous 7 stage will then progress to the semi-finals.
For the T20 showpiece in Australia and New Zealand in 2028, the ICC has determined to strive Tremendous 10 as a substitute of Tremendous 8 after the Group stage. 5 teams of 4 groups will probably be created and the highest two from every will enter the Tremendous 10.
As an alternative of high two groups from every Tremendous 8 group making the semi-finals within the final version, solely the one which tops the desk in every group enters the final 4. Groups positioned second in teams play within the eliminator towards the groups positioned third within the reverse group, including one other layer to the competitors.
Revealed – July 16, 2026 01:25 pm IST
