Sri Lanka ODI team arrives in Bangladesh yesterday (13). They will have to fare extremely well to promote from their current 12th position to the top seven by March 2023, if they are to enter directly for the 2023 50-over Word Cup[/caption]
Sri Lanka will have to fare extremely well to promote from their current 12th spot to the top seven by March 2023 if they are to enter directly to the 2023 50-over Word Cup
This will be the beginning of a hectic schedule which will decide their fate in the ODI World Cup slated for 2023. The beginning will be marked there in Dhaka as the Sri Lanka ODI cricket team arrived in Bangladesh on Sunday (16), under its new leader Kusal Janith Perera, after leaving Colombo in the wee hours of the same day.
Sri Lanka are currently to play nine back-to-back ODIs, in two away-series in Bangladesh and England respectively, and then in a home series against India; all set to be staged between 23 June and 19 July.
In between, they are to play two three-match T20I series too, against England and India.
Current ICC Super League standings
According to current International Cricket Council (ICC) country standings for the ODI Super League or the qualification pathway for the 2023 World Cup, Sri Lanka are placed on the 12th place (as on 7 April 2021) after having played three matches (they played all those three against the West Indies, losing all).
Bangladesh are placed at a more respectable sixth position, having played six and winning three.
The Netherlands are in the 13th spot at the moment according to the ICC current table but are yet to play any matches.
Sri Lanka may fail to qualify directly
Sri Lanka will have to suffer relegation to “League 2” of the ODI Super League and will have to play in the Qualification tournament, the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, if they fail to finish among the top seven countries out of the 12 by the deadline for the World Cup 2023 qualification.
The 2020-23 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League is the ongoing inaugural edition of the league which is taking place from July 2020 to March 2023 to serves as part of the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualification process.
The format of the Super League
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League features 13 teams, the 12 Full Members of the ICC, plus the Netherlands, who won the 2015-17 ICC World Cricket League Championship to qualify for this competition.
Each team will play an ODI series against eight of the other 12 teams, four series at home and four away. Each series consists of three ODI matches.
The Covid-19 pandemic affected the start of the league with several series of matches being postponed.
Effects of the pandemic
In April 2020, following a Chief Executives’ meeting, the ICC announced that it would look at the future of the league at a later date, once there is a better understanding of the impact of the pandemic on cricket.
The series between England and Ireland, starting 30 July 2020, were the first matches of the league.
The way to qualify
For the World Cup 2023, the ICC flagship competition, the hosts India and the top seven sides out of the 12 will qualify automatically.
The remaining five teams will play in a qualifying event, the 2022 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, along with five Associate sides, from which two sides will go through to the World Cup.
The top twelve teams in this Super League remain in the Super League for the next World Cup cycle.
Build-up for the next cycle
The 13th ranked team in this Super League could be relegated to the next Cricket World Cup League 2.
Of the 13th ranked team in this Super League and the champions of the 2019-22 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, whichever of these two teams is ranked higher in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier, will take the 13th spot in the next Super League while the team ranked lower will play in the next League 2.
SL SCHEDULE - MAY-JULY
Sri Lanka vs. Bangladesh:
1st ODI – 23rd May – Dhaka
2nd ODI – 25th May – Dhaka
3rd ODI – 28th May – Dhaka
Sri Lanka vs. England:
1st T20I – 23rd June – Cardiff
2nd T20I – 24th June – Cardiff
3rd T20I – 26th June – Southampton
1st ODI – 29th June – Durham
2nd ODI – 1st July – London
3rd ODI – 4th July – Bristol
Sri Lanka vs. India
(Venue/s not finalised yet)
1st ODI – 13th July
2nd ODI – 16th July
3rd ODI – 19th July
1st T20I – 22nd July
2nd T20I – 24th July
3rd T20I – 27th July