Afghanistan secure a place in the 2027 World Cup, West Indies suffered a major setback

Afghanistan 2027 World Cup Qualification:  Afghanistan secured a place in the 2027 ODI World Cup with a 3-wicket win over Ireland in Belfast on Monday (August 10). With this victory, the Afghan team has qualified directly. While the West Indies suffered a big setback. Now, the Caribbean team will have to qualify for the ODI World Cup through a qualifier.

This is the third time in a row that the West Indies failed to automatically qualify for the 2027 World Cup. They will have to play in qualifiers for the 2019, 2023 and 2027 ODI World Cups. It is really surprising that the team that won the first two seasons of the tournament has failed to qualify directly for the last three World Cups

How will the teams qualify for the 2027 World Cup?

West Indies are currently ranked 10th in the ODI rankings. Apart from the host teams, the full-member teams ranked in the top eight in the format's rankings qualify directly for the World Cup. Only South Africa are the host nation in the top eight. This means that ninth-placed team Bangladesh can directly qualify><

Also Read: New controversy ahead of 2027 ODI World Cup, two teams raise questions on ICC format

West Indies equation is over

West Indies wanted Ireland to win the five-match ODI series against Afghanistan 5-0 or 4-1, but Afghanistan won the next two matches after the first ODI was abandoned due to rain. Thus, the West Indies' dream of qualifying directly was shattered.

Afghanistan vs Ireland in the third ODI 

match, Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bowl. Batting first, hosts Ireland were bowled out for 206 in 46.3 overs. Gavin Hoy top-scored with 36 runs. Ghazanfar and Rashid Khan took three wickets each for Afghanistan. Chasing the target, Afghanistan scored 207 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 44.5 overs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz top-scored for the team with 71 runs, including 2 fours and 5 sixes. The 2027 World Cup will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. This will be Afghanistan's fourth ODI World Cup debut

The ICC has made major changes to the format of next year's ODI World Cup. Earlier, 10 teams played in the World Cup, but now a total of 14 teams will participate in this mega tournament. This decision sounds good, but the real problem is in the qualifying round. According to the new rules, the smaller teams (associate nations) will have to go through several difficult rounds to reach the main matches of the World Cup. This long process has made the dream of playing the World Cup more difficult for smaller teams