Format of the Tournament
Saturday, June 26, 2010
There are 14 teams who will be participating in the tournament including 10 test playing nations and 4 associate member countries. The test playing teams have automatically qualified for the tournament, while the 4 associate members have come through the qualifying tournament held in South Africa earlier this year. The four associate members are: Ireland, Canada, Netherlands and Kenya.
The format of ICC World Cup 2011 is not same to that of the previous world cup that took place in West Indies in 2007. All of the 14 teams are divided into two groups of 7 teams each. In the group stage, each team will play against all other group members once in a round robin league system.
Group A: Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya
Group B: India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands.
In 2007 world cup, there was a ‘Super Eight’ phase involving 8 teams who qualified through group stage, and four best teams from ‘Super Eight’ progressed to the semi final. However, there is no super eight phase in 2011 world cup. In stead, top four teams from each group in terms of points achieved will qualify for the quarter final. There are four quarter finals scheduled to take place on 23 March, 24 March, 25 March and 26 March. That means knock out stage starts just after the group stage. Four winners of the four quarter finals will get into the semi final of the tournament. The winners of the semi finals will meet each other in the tournament final at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 2 April 2009.
The probable reason behind the format change is perhaps to ensure that each of the participating teams play at least 6 games even if they fail to qualify for the quarter final. Last year, two test playing nations: India and Pakistan- failed to reach the ‘Super Eight’ round and had to go back home, having played only 2 matches. The early exit of the two cricket powerhouses caused huge loss for the TV channels, sponsors as well as for those who bought time slots for TV commercials beforehand to promote their products. That is why, ICC has now ensured that each of the teams will play at least 6 games in the 2011 tournament.
Labels: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011
posted @ 11:14 AM,
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