The International Cricket Council (ICC) today confirmed the sides that have qualified directly for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 to be held in Australia, based on the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings as on 31 December 2018
Bangladesh cricket team has to play the qualifiers to qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 that is scheduled to be held in Australia.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) today confirmed the sides that have qualified directly for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 to be held in Australia, based on the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings as on 31 December 2018.
Bangladesh are currently in the tenth position with 77 rating points. Sri Lanka are in ninth position with 87 points. Both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have to play the qualifiers while Afghanistan have directly qualified for the World T20 as they are in eighth position with 92 rating points.
According to ICC, the top 8 sides on the rankings table, top-ranked Pakistan, India, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, the Windies and Afghanistan will start their campaign directly in the Super 12s. Former champions and three-time finalists Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will have to contend with the other six qualifiers in the group stage of the tournament, which will be held from 18 October to 15 November 2020.
As per the qualification criteria set for the tournament, Australia and the other nine top-ranked sides have ensured direct qualification. The top eight make it straight to the Super 12s stage while the remaining two will play in the group stage along with six other teams who will make it through from the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier in 2019. Four teams from the group stage will advance to the Super 12s.
Despite losing the chance of direct qualification, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan is confident the Tigers will qualify for the World Cup
“We have not secured a direct Super 12s berth but I’m confident that we will do well in the tournament by going through the group stage. We are a side capable of beating the best on our day and I see no reason why we can’t go far in the tournament. There is still some time and we will use it to be at our best for the T20 World Cup,” Shakib said.
“We won a T20 series against the West Indies, the world champions, in their backward not so long ago. That performance has given us a lot of belief in our Twenty20 capabilities,” he added.
Source: Dhaka Tribune.
