The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday announced a revamped format for the 2027 men’s one-day international World Cup that could lead to an additional fixture between arch-rivals Pakistan and India.
While next year’s edition in southern Africa remains a 14-team competition, the three lowest-ranked qualifiers will now participate in a preliminary round with only one of them advancing to a 12-player main group stage.
It will now feature just two groups of six, with a new ‘super seven’ stage replacing the previous ‘super six’ round-robin stage.
Significantly, there will be no quarter-finals and the tournament will be denied the additional risks and interest that come with an additional round of clearly defined knockout matches.
However, an extra team in the round-robin phase increases the prospects of an extra match between India and Pakistan.
The passion for cricket in the subcontinent, which in turn generates huge broadcast rights and commercial income for the ICC, makes a match between India and Pakistan the most lucrative in the sport.
But India and Pakistan no longer meet outside of ICC events, and political tensions between the bordering nations mean their own governments prohibit them from facing each other.
The last bilateral series India played in Pakistan was in 2006 (Test and ODI series).
In a statement, the ICC insisted that the new World Cup structure “creates greater context, competitiveness and consequences during the event.”
Another change approved at the recent ICC board meeting in Edinburgh will see the next men’s T20 World Cup in 2028 remain a 20-team competition, but with 10 teams qualifying from the group stage instead of eight.
The two best performing teams from the ‘Super 10’ will automatically secure a place in the semi-finals, with a new knockout phase to decide their opponents.
