ICC set to expand men's ODI World Cup to 14-team event

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to make some key changes in the 50-over World Cup. The cricket body was severely criticized for hosting a 10-member ICC tournament in 2019. Hosting a shorter event was a tactical decision as ICC wanted to give more games to India to reap financial benefits. However, the same resulted in many associate members and even the full members including the likes of Zimbabwe and Ireland failing to take part in the ICC World Cup 2019.

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ICC has now decided to make amends as they are thinking on the lines of expanding the tournament to a 14-team format, played thrice before - in 2003, 2011, and 2015. Though many members were in favor of hosting a 16-team tournament, ICC is likely to settle with a 14-team format.

As per the report published in Cricbuzz, the cricket body is on the verge of finalizing a 14-team format for the ODI World Cup in the next eight-year cycle, from 2023 to 31. The cricket body is now working towards making a blueprint for hosting the 14-team tournament. The blueprint is required to attract sponsors for the mega event. It is learned that the media rights are expected to be sold by 2022.

Meanwhile, there is another dilemma in front of the International Cricket Council as they are yet to take a call on whether to have six or eight World Cups in the cycle. ICC approved the suggestion of hosting eight World Cups in a cycle but it is speculated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) isn’t happy with the decision. However, a few ICC officials are confident about hosting eight World Cups as they believe that they will be able to make BCCI agree to host one World Cup every year.