New Delhi. In the cricket world, the match between India and Pakistan is not just a game but a festival and a guarantee of tremendous thrill. Due to strained political relations between the two countries, bilateral series have been closed for a long time, hence fans have only recourse to ICC events. But fans can get to see a unique thrill in the ODI World Cup to be held in 2027. In this tournament, India and Pakistan may clash not once or twice, but thrice. ICC has made some complex changes in the format of the tournament, which has completely paved the way for more and more matches between India and Pakistan. Let us understand what is the complete mathematics behind this new format of ICC.
On one hand, while global sports organizations like FIFA are increasing the number of teams in their World Cup from 32 to 48 and are thinking of increasing it to 64, on the other hand, ICC, the supreme body of cricket, is facing allegations of the opposite. Critics believe that the ICC is the only sports organization in the world which, instead of making its tournaments more inclusive, is making the path difficult for new countries. However, it has been decided to increase the number of teams to 14 in 2027 as compared to 10 teams in the 2023 World Cup, but this expansion that appears on paper is actually an illusion.
India and Pakistan can clash three times in the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Difficult obstacles created for new countries
The ICC has prepared such ‘roadblocks’ for the new and weak associate countries that only the big teams will dominate by the time they reach the main round. According to the rules, the bottom three teams in the ranking will play a triangular series among themselves before the main round, out of which only one team will advance. This simply means that practically the number of teams playing in the tournament will reduce from 14 to only 12.
New and complicated maze of ‘Super Seven’
The matter does not end here. After the first round of matches between these 12 teams, only 7 teams will advance to the next round, which has been named ‘Super Seven’. That means, after passing two tough qualification rounds, only 7 main teams will get a real chance to play among themselves. According to recent reports of BBC, the real motive behind complicating and changing the format so much is to make as many matches as possible between India and Pakistan. Since both the countries are counted among the biggest cricket loving countries in the world, their matches are a huge source of income for the ICC and the biggest source of profit for the broadcasters.
The background of the first match will be created like this
Under this new format, the script of the three matches between India and Pakistan has been prepared very cleverly. The ICC’s policy of deciding groups has always been opaque, taking into account the market and viewership rather than random draws. Under the same strategy, India and Pakistan will be placed in the same six-team group in the second round (group stage), where the first match of the tournament will be held between them.
Complete equation of second and third great match
Since both the teams are very strong, it is believed that both will easily make it to the next round i.e. ‘Super Seven’. This round will be completely based on round-robin format, which means that all the seven teams present at this stage will play matches against each other. Due to this rule, India and Pakistan will once again face each other, i.e. for the second time, in the Super Seven round. After this the real thrill of knockout will begin. The top four teams of the Super Seven will make it to the semi-finals, where the first place team will face the fourth place team and the second place team will face the third place team. According to this equation, both the teams can face each other for the third time in the semi-finals or directly in the final.
business profits vs sports reputation
Amidst the criticism regarding this new format, the ICC has said in its statement that the increasing importance of the matches and tough competition will improve the experience of the fans, as well as the emerging teams will continue to get a chance to play on the biggest stage of cricket. But the reality is that due to the absence of bilateral cricket between India and Pakistan, the ICC is trying to capitalize on the hunger that fans have for these matches. The 2027 World Cup will definitely be exciting, but the damage being done to the global expansion of cricket in this pursuit of commercial gains has raised big questions on the policies of the ICC.
