The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the list of teams that have secured direct qualification for the 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup. The development came following West Indies’ eight-wicket loss against Australia on Saturday evening in Abu Dhabi. The defending champions failed to book a birth for the next season.
According to the official website of the T20 World Cup, as many as eight teams from the Super 12s of the ongoing multi-team tournament will qualify for the Super 12 stage of next edition. These eight teams would include the winner and runner-up of the 2021 T20 World Cup. The remaining six teams will get the positions on the grounds of their ICC Men’s T20I ranking as of November 15.
The 8-wicket loss against Australia has put West Indies at the 10th spot in the ICC team rankings. Similarly, Sri Lanka have also finished 9th place in the rankings, meaning they have also lost the opportunity to make into the final eight directly.
The teams that have secured direct qualification for the 2022 T20 World Cup are Australia, England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Bangladesh have moved up to the eighth spot despite losing all their matches in the Super 12 stage of the ongoing tournament, thanks to their recent T20I victories at home against Australia and New Zealand.
Scotland and Namibia, the two teams who made it to the Super 12 stage this year, will join West Indies and Sri Lanka in the first round of the next season.
Meanwhile, only three games have been left in the Super 12 stage of the global showpiece event. While Afghanistan will take on New Zealand in the day fixture on Sunday, Pakistan will face Scotland in the evening game. Similarly, on the next day, India will face Namibia in their last game of the league stage. Pakistan have already qualified for the semi-final from Group 2, while England and Australia have booked a place in the knockout stage from Group 1.
