ICC revamp of ODI, T20I World Cup formats may result in extra Pakistan-India clash

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Wednesday a revamped format for the men’s 2027 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 take part in a preliminary round with just one of them progressing to a 12-strong main group stage.

That will now feature just two pools of six, with a new ‘super seven’ stage replacing the previous ‘super six’ round-robin.

Significantly, there will be no quarter-finals with the tournament denied the further jeopardy and interest that comes with an extra round of clear-cut knockout matches.

An additional team in the round-robin phase, however, increases the prospects of an extra match between India and Pakistan.

The passion for cricket in the sub-continent, which in turn generates huge broadcast rights and commercial revenues for the ICC, makes a match between India and Pakistan the most lucrative in the sport.

But Pakistan and India no longer meet outside of ICC events, with political tensions between the bordering nations meaning they are effectively barred by their own governments 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 the new World Cup structure “creates greater context, competitiveness and consequence during the event”.

T20 WC changes

Another change approved at the ICC’s recent board meeting in Edinburgh will see the next men’s T20 World Cup in 2028 remain a 20-team competition, but with 10 sides qualifying from the group stage rather than eight.

“The revised format is designed to expand opportunities for emerging nations while increasing the competitiveness of the tournament’s latter stages,” said the official ICC statement.

“The 20 participating teams will now be divided into five groups of four, replacing the previous format of four groups of five used at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.”

The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super 10 stage.

The two best performing teams in the ‘Super 10’ will automatically secure a semi-final spot, with a new eliminator stage to decide their opponents.

However, the remaining two semi-final berths will be decided through a new Eliminators round, with the second-placed teams from each Super 10 group taking on the third-placed sides from the opposite groups.

The ICC’s statement noted that 12 teams have already secured spots in the 2028 tournament, based on their performance in this year’s T20 World Cup and team rankings.

Alongside Pakistan, these are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Zimbabwe.