Top eight now a must for Tigers

Bangladesh will play a total of 44 one day international matches till 2017

According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), the eighth and ninth ranked side of the ICC ranking will have to play in the qualifying round to play in the fifty over World Cup which is scheduled to be held in England in 2019.  This means Bangladesh might have to play in the qualifying round with six associate nations and the qualifying stage will be hosted by Bangladesh in 2018.

However, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury informed that if Bangladesh can get into to the top eight of the ICC rankings before 31st December 2017, then the tigers won’t need to take part in the qualifying stage.

“It’s not yet finalized that Bangladesh will have to play in the qualifiers of the 2019 World Cup. If Bangladesh can become one of the top eight sides then we don’t need to play. But if Bangladesh can’t make it then we will have to play,” said Nizamuddin.

The ICC have already finalized that Bangladesh would be hosting the qualifiers of the 2019 World Cup in 2018, a year before the main event. Zimbabwe will host the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and these decisions were taken in an ICC meeting which took place back in June 2011.

The tigers will play a total of 44 one day international matches till 2017. The 2015 World Cup will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand where Bangladesh will play directly with other eleven nations while England will host the 2019 World Cup where only ten teams will be playing in the main event.

Despite being the host and a Test playing nation, Bangladesh had to play in the qualifiers of the recently concluded World T20.  The tigers will have to go through the same system again in order to qualify for the next World T20 which will be hosted by India in 2016.

Earlier it was revealed that the bottom ranked Test playing nations will have to play four Test matches, home and away. But now the performance in the ODIs will also play a role in deciding the fate of Bangladesh.

Source: Dhaka Tribune