ICC World Cup Qualifier: The final step towards booking a spot in the Cricket World Cup 2023 is set to get underway as 10 teams will have a crack in the World Cup Qualifiers. After four years of intense competition, the teams are gearing up for another push to try and book their tickets for the ODI World Cup in India. Before the action unfolds, here is all you need to know about the mega event.
What is World Cup Qualifier?
World Cup Qualifier is the final event to qualify for the ODI World Cup 2023. The qualification process began four years before with 32 teams and now it gets to 10 in the World Cup Qualifier.
What are the teams & Groups?
There are ten teams divided into two groups of five each. West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, UAE, Nepal, and USA are the ten teams that will play in the event. They are divided into Group A and Group B.
Group A features Zimbabwe, Nepal, Netherlands, USA, and West Indies. Whereas Group B comprises Sri Lanka, Ireland, Oman, Scotland, and UAE.
How many teams will qualify and how?
Only 2 teams out of these ten will qualify for the main World Cup event in October and November. All these teams will play against their own group sides in a round-robin format. Therefore everyone will get to play four games each in the group stage. The top three teams from each group will proceed into the Super Six stage.
The teams will carry the points they accrue against the two other sides that come into this stage. Each team in the Super Six stage will lock horns against the teams that came here from the other group. The top two teams in the Super Six table will qualify for the ODI World Cup.
There will also be a final but that would not hamper the qualification as both would have sealed a spot each for the tournament in India.
When will the event start?
The event will get underway from June 18 onwards. The group stage matches will be played till June 27 and the Super Six will kick off from June 29 and will be played till July 7. The final will take place on July 9. Also, there will be playoffs to decide the seventh to tenth-ranked teams of the event and that will be held from June 30 to July 6.
Where are the Qualifiers being held?
The Qualifiers are being held in Zimbabwe. There will be four venues, two each from Harare and Bulawayo that will host the Qualifier event.
Squads of all teams in World Cup 2023 Qualifiers
Ireland
Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.
Nepal
Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Gyanendra Malla, Kushal Malla, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Bhim Sharki, Lalit Rajbanshi, Pratish JC, Arjun Saud, Kishor Mahato
Netherlands
Scott Edwards (c), Max O'Dowd, Logan van Beek, Vikram Singh, Aryan Dutt, Viv Kingma, Bas de Leede, Noah Croes, Ryan Klein, Teja Nidamanuru, Wesley Barresi, Shariz Ahmad, Clayton Floyd, Michael Levitt, Saqib Zulfiqar.
Oman
Zeeshan Maqsood (c), Aqib Ilyas (vc), Jatinder Singh, Kashyap Prajapati, Shoaib Khan, Mohammed Nadeem, Sandeep Goud, Ayaan Khan, Suraj Kumar, Adeel Shafique, Naseem Khushi, Bilal Khan, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt, Jay Odedra, Samay Shrivastav, Rafiullah
Scotland
Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Alasdair Evans, Chris Greaves, Jack Jarvis, Michael Leask, Tom Mackintosh, Chris McBride, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Adrian Neill, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Hamza Tahir, Mark Watt
Sri Lanka
Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Mendis (vc & wk), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Dushan Hemantha
UAE
Mohammad Waseem (c), Ethan D'Souza, Ali Naseer, Vriitya Aravind, Rameez Shahzad, Jawadullah, Asif Khan, Rohan Mustafa, Aayan Khan, Junaid Siddique, Zahoor Khan, Sanchit Sharma, Aryansh Sharma, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed
USA
Monank Patel (c), Aaron Jones (vc), Abhishek Paradkar, Ali Khan, Gajanand Singh, Jasdeep Singh, Kyle Philip, Nisarg Patel, Nostush Kenjige, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Saurabh Netravalkar, Shayan Jahangir, Steven Taylor, Sushant Modani, Usman Rafiq
West Indies
Shai Hope (c), Rovman Powell (vc), Shamarh Brooks, Yannic Cariah, Keacy Carty, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd
Zimbabwe
Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Craig Ervine, Bradley Evans, Joylord Gumbie, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams.
