ODI World Cup Qualifier… What’s that?

As the packaging suggests, this is a qualifying event where ten teams will fight it out for the last two available spots at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India in October-November. The Qualifier is the finishing point of a four-year process that began with 32 teams in contention for the World Cup, where only ten will finally take part.

Interesting. So will we see teams such as India and Australia in the Qualifier?

Nope, they are already in the main draw. India, who are the hosts and the other teams that finished in the top eight of the 13-team ODI Super League have automatically qualified for the showpiece event. The bottom five teams from the Super League and five others will feature in the Qualifier.

Going way too fast, mate… now what’s the ODI Super League?

The ODI Super League was introduced by the ICC in 2020 to help decide the teams that would feature in the World Cup. It ran from July 30, 2020, to May 14, 2023. The 13 teams included the 12 Full Members and Netherlands, who were winners of the preceding World Cricket League Championship.

At the end of the Super League, India, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa sealed their World Cup spots. The bottom five teams – West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Netherlands, along with five Associate nations – will get another crack at making the main event through the Qualifier. Two of these ten sides will eventually make the journey to India.Having said that, the Super League will be scrapped after the 2023 World Cup, with the ICC going back to relying on rankings as the basis for qualification to the men’s 50-over World Cup.

Gotcha. Who are these five Associate teams?

Oman, Scotland, UAE, Nepal and USA.

And how did they make it to the final World Cup Qualifier?

Scotland, Oman and Nepal were the top three teams in the World Cup League 2, a seven-team tournament of 140 matches that was played from August 2019 to March 2023. Scotland and Oman finished first and second, and Nepal sealed third place in exhilarating manner by winning 11 of their last 12 matches to pip Namibia by a solitary point.

UAE and USA clinched the final two qualifying spots after finishing as the top two teams at the World Cup Qualifier play-offs in March-April this year.

Awesome. So how does the upcoming Qualifier work?

All matches will have ODI status, and will come thick and fast. The ten teams have been split into two groups of five. Group A includes Nepal, Netherlands, USA, West Indies and Zimbabwe, while Group B consists of Ireland, Oman, Scotland, Sri Lanka and UAE. Each side will play four group matches, facing the others in their group once in a round-robin format. The winner of each game will be awarded two points, while ties and no-results will fetch one point each.

After the 20 group-stage matches are done, the top three sides from each group will progress to the Super Six, carrying over the points they acrue against the other two teams that reach this stage. Each team in the Super Six will face the three qualifying teams from the opposite first-round group. Thereafter, the top two teams on the Super Six table will qualify for the 2023 World Cup.

Wait, so no final?

There will be a match between the top-two Super Six sides, with the winner taking home a shiny trophy. But the final will be a win-win game for both sides, since they’ve both already booked their World Cup berths.

Sweet. Oh, before I forget: where’s this happening and when?

In Zimbabwe, as was the case last time around in 2018. Four venues, two each in Harare and Bulawayo, will host the matches.

The tournament commences on June 18, with the group-stage games finishing on June 27. The Super Six will run from June 29 to July 7, while the final will take place on July 9 at Harare Sports Club. Playoffs to decide seventh to tenth places will take place from June 30 to July 6. Here’s the full list of fixtures, and all the squads.

Anything new this time around?

The DRS. After first announcing the presence of third umpires to monitor only run-outs, the ICC confirmed that DRS will be in use from the Super Six stage for the first time in a World Cup Qualifier.

Surely West Indies and Sri Lanka go in as favourites?

Going by the rankings, you would say so. Both teams narrowly missed out on automatic qualification for the World Cup, and will fancy their chances. West Indies have shown excellent recent form in ODIs: coming into the Qualifier, they swept UAE 3-0 in an ODI series in Sharjah, and had earlier drawn 1-1 against South Africa. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are coming off a 2-1 ODI series win over Afghanistan.However, don’t rule out Zimbabwe, who will be playing in their home conditions, and will have the backing of the local crowd.

And the underdogs… ?

Ireland have reasonable recent game time under their belt, and plenty of in-form players. They could prove to be a handful. Talking of underdogs, don’t forget Nepal, who have never featured in an ODI World Cup, but have a team for the conditions, are on a roll, and can cause a few upsets.

The last World Cup Qualifier…what happened there?

Heartbreak for Zimbabwe and Scotland, and World Cup qualification for Afghanistan and West Indies. Afghanistan’s qualification was nothing short of miraculous. They entered the Super Six staring down the barrel, but successive wins and favourable results from other games ensured they booked a place at the 2019 World Cup. A win over West Indies in the final was the cherry on top of a comeback for the ages. (cricinfo)