Bangladesh almost confirms direct participation in ICC World Cup 2019

Bangladesh made history on Wednesday by defeating New Zealand at the Clontarf Cricket Club Ground in Dublin by five wickets to complete their first victory against the Black Caps while playing away from their home soil. With this surprising victory, they are now placed in the sixth position in the ODI Team Rankings.

But this is not the only positive for the team, with the rise in the ranking they have opened up prospects of assuring themselves an automatic qualification for the World Cup 2019. According to the rules by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the deadline is 30th of September to qualify directly for the World Cup. Within this period, a team must be placed in the top 8 of the ODI Team Rankings to be eligible to play in the ICC World Cup 2019 directly or else will have to go through the qualification matches.

Current scenario of qualification for Bangladesh

Bangladesh are now tied on points with 7th placed Sri Lanka. They are 5 points ahead of Pakistan. The 9th placed team in the table, West Indies is 14 points behind Bangladesh. With Pakistan and Sri Lanka both playing the Champions Trophy, there are chances that the rankings will shuffle depending on the performance in the tournament.

But the Windies have not qualified for the Champions Trophy 2017. Hence, there are very slim hope for them to outnumber Bangladesh with the deadline of 30th September.

Hence, it is safe to say that the tigers have ‘almost’ confirmed their direct participation for the mega event. It would mean that the ‘once upon a time’ might West Indies will have to play the qualifier along with the Associate nations in order to be eligible to participate in the World Cup 2019 that will be played a couple of years later.