West Indies relegated to T/20 world cup qualifiers

West Indies’ defeat last Saturday by Australia in the ICC men’s T/20 World Cup, means that they slip to 10th in the T/20 rankings, thus will have to play in the qualifiers for next year’s edition in Australia.

The automatic qualifiers for the Super 12s in 2022 were determined to be the winner and runner-up of the ongoing T20 World Cup, alongside the next six highest-ranked teams.

Going into Saturday’s games, six teams – England, Pakistan, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia – had already done enough to ensure their ICC T20I rankings were high enough to seal a Super 12s spot next year.

Also, failing to make the super 12s direct entry were Sri Lanka, who finished the rankings in ninth place.

While the West Indies and Sri Lanka have to enter the qualification phase, Bangladesh rose to eighth, despite losing all their matches in the Super 12s.

Bangladesh’s gained their position on the back of recent home series wins over Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, Afghanistan, currently seventh on the table, will occupy the other automatic spot in the Super 12s.

West Indies, who won T20 World Cup titles in 2012 and 2016, lost four of their five matches in the 2021 edition.

Among the team’s low point was in their opening game against England when they were routed for 55.