ICC qualifiers are likely to be shifted out of Bangladesh

The ICC qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup were scheduled to be held in Bangladesh, but Mashrafe Mortaza and his boys outstanding performance means that the venue will now need to be shifted, as they are likely to qualify automatically on the basis of their ranking.

Bangladesh are currently sitting pretty at 7th place and therefore this will provide an opportunity for other nations to host the prestigious qualifiers. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) are potential favourites to host the World Cup qualifiers and will look to convince the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar that it can do so when he visits the country on Tuesday.

According to bdcrictime.com, The ICC chairman will spend five days in Zimbabwe on a trip that includes meetings with government officials- country’s vice-president and sports minister, and with Zimbabwe Cricket hierarchy. His visit will conclude with a trip to Victoria Falls, where plans to build a cricket ground could resume after initial efforts failed in the year 2011.

Zimbabwe will face some tough competition from the likes of  UAE, Scotland and Ireland, who are looking to jointly host the mega event. But the dry conditions during winter makes Zimbabwe the front runner to host the event. The challenge that Zimbabwe will face is the fact that they often play in two of their grounds- Harare Sports Club and Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo – but there are talks going around about adding an academy ground as an additional option.

The top two teams at the qualifier tournament will join the eight teams, who will have already qualified for the World Cup 2019, thanks to their ranking in the ICC ODI Championship. Zimbabwe recently won the ODI series against Sri Lanka and competed strongly in the one-off Test match. They will host West Indies in the month of October and are likely to play Afghanistan too by the end of the year.