Which teams have automatically qualified for T20 World Cup 2022?

Following the conclusion of the Australia vs West Indies match of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, the automatic qualifiers for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 were confirmed on Saturday. As West Indies lost to Australia in the clash, they slipped to the 10th position in the current ICC Men’s T20 team rankings. Eight teams from the 12 teams that made it to the Super-12 stage of the current year’s world cup, automatically qualified for the next year’s tournament, which includes hosts Australia, England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

With West Indies dropping down to 10th position, Bangladesh was pushed to eighth in the T20 rankings, which made the qualification confirmed. The automatic qualifiers were set to be the winner and runner-up of the ongoing world cup, alongside the next six teams placed in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings at the cut-off date of 15 November. As the current top six teams, England, Pakistan, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia are set not to be affected with the results of the matches that come ahead, Afghanistan who are placed seventh, confirmed their qualification alongside Bangladesh. 

West Indies, Sri Lanka, Namibia, and Scotland will play for the qualifying round next year

Bangladesh played the qualifying round ahead of the current T20 World Cup to reach the Super-12 stage, however, they won’t have to play it in the next edition. Meanwhile, the 2016 T20 champions West Indies saw a dip in their performance this year and will play the qualifying round next year. Alongside the Caribbean side, Sri Lanka, Namibia, and Scotland are the teams that will have to start the  ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in the First Round.

The 2021 edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was the seventh edition of the tournament, which was originally scheduled to be played in 2020 in India. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic struck the globe in 2019, the tournament was moved to UAE in 2021. Meanwhile, the eighth edition, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 will be played in Australia. It was originally planned to be played in 2021, as the replacement of this year’s ICC Champions Trophy. 

(Image: t20worldcup.com/ICC)