Shoaib Akhtar recently stirred a hornet’s nest in Pakistan by claiming that the national team would have to go through the qualifiers to secure a spot in the next T20 World Cup. It has since emerged that the situation may not be as dire as initially projected. Even if their last match against Ireland in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is washed out on Monday, Pakistan can still qualify directly for the next edition in 2026. India and Sri Lanka are the joint hosts of that World Cup.
According to the qualifying rules, 12 of the 20 teams will receive automatic qualifications. India and Sri Lanka, as hosts, will be the first two teams on the list, gaining direct entry into the next edition along with all Super 8 teams. India, having already qualified for the Super 8s from Group A in the 2024 T20 World Cup, meet the requirements under two criteria. The other teams that have made the Super 8 cut and have gained a direct entry into the 2026 edition are South Africa (Group D), West Indies and Afghanistan (Group C), Australia (Group B) and USA (Group A).
Bangladesh or Netherlands will make it to the next round from Group D while Scotland and England are in a tussle for a Super 8 spot from Group B. Including Sri Lanka there will be nine teams, and three more teams will join them. These three teams will be decided on the basis of the highest-ranked teams as per the ICC Men’s T20I rankings table on 30th June, 2024.
Pakistan are currently seventh with 241 rating points as per the latest T20I rankings while New Zealand, who also suffered an early exit, are sixth with 247 points. These two sides are well ahead of teams like Bangladesh (9th with 226 points), Ireland (11th with 195 points), Scotland (12th with 192 points), Zimbabwe (13th with 192 points), Namibia (14th with 189 points), Netherlands (15th with 185 points), UAE (16th with 176 points), Nepal (18th with 170 points), Oman (19th with 163 points), PNG (20th with 145 points), Uganda (21st with 135 points), Hong Kong (22nd with 135 points) and Canada (23rd with 129 points).
The remaining eight teams will be determined through the ICC’s regional qualification pathway – two each will be filled through regional qualification processes of Europe, Asia and Africa, with one each from the East Asia Pacific and Americas regions.
The eight teams that came through pathway processes in this edition were Ireland and Scotland (Europe), Nepal and Oman (Asia), Namibia and Uganda (Africa), Canada (Americas), and Papua New Guinea (East Asia Pacific). The USA gained entry by virtue of being the joint hosts.
Latif comes to Pakistan’s defence, blames ICC
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s failure to qualify for the Super 8s has invariably received criticism from several quarters but Rashid Latif blamed the conditions for the Babar Azam side’s debacle in the World Cup.
“You can’t blame the Pakistan players for everything. They fought well but their efforts were neutered by the pitch conditions. They should have won both the US and India games but the conditions were beyond their control. It can happen, runs have been difficult to come. See, even a batsman like Virat Kohli is not getting runs,” Latif said in a chat with Cricbuzz.
Latif criticised the ICC, stating that if teams like Pakistan do not make it to the Super 8s, the world body should bear responsibility. He further pointed out that the poor conditions are not only in the US but also in the Caribbean.
“Individual half centuries are not many. No team has scored a half-century against teams like Afghanistan. If a batsman scores a half century the team ends up winning more often than not. Rishabh Pant made 42 and India beat Pakistan. The conditions are not ideal for the World Cup,” Latif said.