The structural adjustments made to the ODI and T20 World Cup formats to include more nations make sense, according to former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, but the ICC must include the lower-tier teams in every bilateral series if the sport is to become truly global.
In order to create “greater context and consequence,” the 2028 T20 World Cup’s Super 8 phase will be enlarged to accommodate ten countries, while the 2027 ODI World Cup will be a three-stage competition, according to the ICC’s announcement on Wednesday.
According to Ashwin, the world body is making progress but still has to do more.
“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. But if the final goal is to grow the game, there needs to be a stronger pathway for emerging nations,” Ashwin posted on X on Thursday.
“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. Let’s not forget, that collective growth will make this sport a spectacle at the Olympics,” he added.
His opinions are in line with countries like Scotland and Nepal, who showed promise in the T20 World Cup earlier this year, calling for more significant matches.
In an effort to liven up the sport, the governing body has added a Super Series phase before the “Group round” and a Super 7 stage before the semifinals. The 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa will feature 14 nations as scheduled, up from the 10 in the previous edition.
Teams that place 12th through 14th in the tournament will compete in the Super Series round, with the top finisher moving on to the competition’s second round, which will split six teams into two groups.
Instead of the Super 6 stage that was previously scheduled, the top three teams from each group as well as the next best team from both groups will advance to the Super 7 stage, from which the top four teams advance to the semifinals.
After the Group stage, the ICC has chosen to test Super 10 rather than Super 8 for the 2028 T20 showpiece in Australia and New Zealand.
The top two teams from each of the five groups of four teams will advance to the Super 10. In the previous season, only the top team from each Super 8 group advanced to the final four, rather than the top two teams from each group making it to the semifinals.
The tournament is further complicated by the elimination round, where teams ranked second in each group compete against those ranked third in the other group.
