New Delhi, Aug 11 (IANS) Two-time ODI World Cup champions West Indies will once again have to negotiate a qualifying tournament to reach the 2027 World Cup after failing to secure a place among the teams guaranteed automatic entry.
The West Indies, who are currently placed 10th in the ICC ODI rankings, will not be able to secure one of the automatic qualification spots by the September 30 deadline even if they win both of their remaining ODIs versus India, they will have to take part in the Qualifier in February next year if they want to take part in the 2027 event in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Automatic qualification will be granted to the top eight teams in the ICC ODI Rankings as of September 30, with the two host nations, South Africa and Zimbabwe, excluded. Afghanistan earned their spot in that group following their exciting win against Ireland in Belfast.
Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England and Bangladesh – teams who are the defending championsc – will take part, together with the hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe.
For the West Indies, this most recent development is once again a blow in their attempt to regain the top spot in the 50-over format; since they were not able to qualify directly, they had to take part in the Qualifier for the 2023 ODI World Cup and ultimately ended up in fifth position in the Super Six phase, thus missing the tournament completely.
West Indies had never before failed to qualify for the men’s ODI World Cup, and since their omission from the 2023 tournament they have also missed the 2025 Champions Trophy, a competition which they had not taken part in since 2013.
The West Indies will therefore have to go through another difficult qualifying campaign, the 2027 World Cup Qualifier being held in February next year. It has not yet been decided which country will host the tournament.
The team that wins the Qualifier will be given direct entry into the second round of the 2027 World Cup, while those who finish in second, third, and fourth places will have to take part in the first round, which is called the Super Series.
The winner of that tri-series will progress to the second round of the World Cup. However, the reformed qualification system has not been well received by some Associate nations.
The Qualifier will include Ireland and West Indies, who are the two lowest-ranked non-host Full Members in the ODI rankings as of 30 September 2026, together with the top four teams from the Cricket World Cup League 2.
The other four places will be taken by teams that advance from the World Cup Qualifier Playoff; this eight-team playoff will include the four lowest-placed sides from the CWC League 2 and four teams from the Challenge League, which is essentially cricket’s third division.
The four teams that finish at the top in the playoff will be promoted to the World Cup Qualifier.
The Challenge League includes 12 teams, which are divided into two pools containing six teams each. During the cycle, each pool will hold three round-robin tournaments, and the two teams at the top of each pool will progress to the World Cup Qualifier Playoff.
–IANS
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