Fans are wondering whether Bangladesh would directly qualify for the ninth edition of the Twenty20 format of cricket World Cup after their defeat to Pakistan in their last Super 12 Round fixture. Tigers finished fifth in Group 2's point standings after losing their last game, jeopardizing their direct qualification. Will Bangladesh directly qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup?
What is the qualification process for the Twenty20 World Cup 2024?
Twenty teams will take part in the 2024 World Cup. Among them, twelve teams will automatically qualify for the ninth edition of the tournament. The top eight teams in the T20 World Cup 2022, along with the two hosts—the West Indies and the USA—will directly compete in the main event of the 2024 ICC Twenty20 World Cup in June. The two remaining teams will be picked based on the ICC’s rankings.
Read More: ‘This has been Bangladesh’s best T20 World Cup performance’: Shakib
The top eight teams in the 2022 ICC Twenty20 World Cup are Australia, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, South Africa, and the Netherlands. These national teams get a direct entry into the next edition of the T20 World Cup. The remaining two teams will be confirmed by the ICC men’s T20I rankings as of November 14.
Based on the ICC’s current rankings, Bangladesh are at ninth position and Afghanistan are at tenth place. There is no chance that these two teams will fall further in the rankings before the deadline. Therefore, both Bangladesh and Afghanistan will play directly in the next event.
The remaining eight teams will be confirmed through the ICC’s five qualifying competitions. The qualifying competitions are the Africa Qualifier, the Americas Qualifier, the Asia Qualifier, the East-Asia Pacific Qualifier, and the Europe Qualifier.
The format of the tournament will be different from the current one. The 20 qualifying teams will be divided into four groups of five. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super 8 Round, where four teams will divide into two groups for a berth in the semifinals and then the final.
Read More: T20 World Cup: Bangladesh end campaign with another dismal batting display
Bangladesh’s performance in the 2022 T20 World Cup
Bangladesh started well in the 2022 Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, winning their opening fixture against the Netherlands by 9 runs. They also registered a victory over Zimbabwe. However, Bangladesh lost all of their matches against tough opponents—South Africa, India, and Pakistan, respectively—and finished fifth in Group 2’s point standings with 4 points. The Tigers would have finished fourth in the standings hadn’t the Netherlands upset South Africa in their last fixture of the Super 12s. The Dutch side finished above Bangladesh to take the fourth spot in the points table with better run rates.
Bottom Line
According to the ICC's current rankings, Bangladesh's direct entry into the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup is all but certain. However, it was a major failure for the team Tigers not to place in the top four in Group 2 of the Super 12 Round point standings in the 2022 Twenty20 World Cup.
Read More: T20 World Cup: Was the LBW call against Shakib correct?