ICC announces four-step qualification process for 2022 T20 World Cup

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced that the qualification for 15 spots for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia, scheduled to be held in October-November, 2022, will be decided through a four-step qualifying process which starts in April 2021. Hosts Australia are already in as the 16th team.

Eleven regional qualification tournaments across five regions have been rescheduled to 2021, due to Covid-19 and will now feed into the 2022 Australia event.

Four teams from the two global qualifiers will join hosts Australia and the 11 automatic qualifiers from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 to make up the 16-team Men's T20 World Cup 2022.

"With the return of cricket in early 2021, we will see 86 different teams with the opportunity to fill the 15 World Cup spots - with hosts Australia already securing one - over a 13-month qualification campaign. For the first time ever Hungary, Romania and Serbia will be competing for Men's T20 World Cup qualification and Finland will play host to an ICC event for the very first time… it will also be the first time that Japan will host a Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier, on the back of the U19 Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier they will host two weeks before," said a statement from the International Cricket Council.

The 16 teams that had originally qualified for the 2020 Australia event will now play in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 in India. The participating teams for that event are Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies. IANS

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