Picture Credit: Twitter/ICC
Cricket remains one of the most popular sports in the world. However, it is far in the race from other sports like football which retains its position as the most followed sport in the world. The majority of cricket following comes from Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa and the United Kingdom and although the sport is on the rise, it still has a lot of distance to travel if it indeed aims to become as globalised as football.
In a bid to do just that, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is reportedly considering expanding the T20 World Cup to 20 teams from its current number of participants, which are 16. While the 2021 and 2022 tournament, currently scheduled to be held in India and Australia respectively, will remain unchanged, the ICC is looking to add four more teams to the tournament from the 2024 edition. In addition, there is also speculation over the possibility of the ICC expanding the number of teams participating in the 50-over World Cup.
50-Over World Cup had been reduced to 10 teams
Notably, the 50-Over World Cup had been reduced to just 10 teams from 14 in 2019 with the argument that broadcasters would prefer the lesser participation as it will reduce the number of one-sided matches. However, there are talks to get the number of teams back to at least 14.
As far as the T20 World Cup is concerned, this year's edition is currently slated to happen in October-November in India but it remains uncertain owing to the deadly second wave of COVID-19 which is claiming thousands of lives everyday. The pandemic has already led to the suspension of IPL 2021. Seeing the outbreak UAE has already been kept as a back up venue to host the World Cup.