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ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Are 10 teams enough?
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will take place in India later this year. But the big debate still is whether 10 teams are enough in the World Cup.
Source: cricketworldcup.com
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Since the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup has started the big question that looms around is whether 10 teams are enough for a World Cup. The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in India later this year. The marquee event will have 10 participating teams out of which eight have already qualified. The qualifiers are underway in Zimbabwe where there are signs of evidence that provide the argument for ICC to increase the number of teams in the World Cup.
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Are 10 teams enough for the World Cup?
The World Cup will be held in a country like India where the audience for cricket is the largest. Even if the number of teams is increased and there are more teams that are ‘less famous’ it is highly likely that their matches can still be attended by huge audiences. Teams like West Indies have struggled so far in the Qualifiers and it is highly likely that they fail to qualify for the World Cup.
A tournament which has the word World in its title surely can’t be played among 10 teams. There is an argument for the limited number of teams which is that the ICC doesn’t want the quality of cricket to be reduced. But with a limited number of teams, the ICC will find it difficult to get cricket in competitions like the Olympics.
Format
The Cricket World Cup had 14 participants in 2011 and 2015 while there were 16 nations in the 2007 World Cup. The format for these World Cups was that there were group stages which were followed by quarterfinals or Super 8.
In 2011 and 2015 the 14 teams were divided into two groups of seven teams. The top four teams from both groups qualified for the quarter-finals. This meant that if a team reaches the finals then they played a total of nine matches. The 10-team format allows ICC to earn more revenue with high-ranked teams playing more matches. Round-robin format with 10 teams allows 9 games in the league stage and the teams reaching finals play 11 matches.
2027 World Cup
The 2027 World Cup will have 14 teams participating who will be divided into two groups of seven teams. South Africa and Zimbabwe have already qualified as the hosts. Eight teams will join the World Cup based on rankings while the other four teams would come from the Qualifiers. The 14-team format in the 2027 World Cup will allow more teams to participate while the number of matches also does not take a hit. The top three teams will qualify for the Super Six which will ensure that the number of matches the finalists will be more than what for example India and Sri Lanka played in the 2011 World Cup.
Also Read: World Cup 2023: How does the schedule benefit India?
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