ICC Set to Revive Global Qualifiers for T20 World Cups, India and Pakistan Excluded

The ICC has decided to bring back one of its major global tournaments without India and Pakistan, two of Asia's biggest cricket teams. The decision was taken during an ICC board meeting in Ahmedabad on Saturday, a day before the IPL 2026 final between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans. One of the key agendas of the meeting was the reinstatement of the Global Qualifiers, a tournament that the ICC used to conduct until the 2019 T20 World Cup edition. 

According to Cricbuzz, the ICC has decided to bring back the global qualifying tournament for future T20 World Cups. The last edition was held in 2019, which helped determine the associate teams that qualified for the 2021 T20 World Cup.

A single tournament, comprising the top associate teams from each continent, was held in the UAE, with the Netherlands finishing the competition as the champions. 14 teams were divided into two groups, with each side playing six matches in the league stage. The top four teams from both groups combined entered the semifinals, and the Netherlands took on Papua New Guinea in the final. 

ICC Plans Comeback Of Global Qualifiers After Growing Associate Team Popularity

The Netherlands qualified for the T20 World Cup along with Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Oman, Scotland, and Namibia through the global qualifying tournament. These teams then competed for a place in the Super 12 stage. However, after the 2019 edition, the ICC discontinued the global qualifiers and introduced regional and sub-regional qualification tournaments instead. For instance, eight qualifying teams for the 2026 T20 World Cup edition were determined through regional qualifiers for the Americas (Canada), Europe (Italy and the Netherlands), Africa (Zimbabwe and Namibia), Asia (Nepal) and East Asia (UAE and Oman). 

The ICC, under the leadership of Jay Shah, is considering bringing back the global qualifying tournament ahead of future T20 World Cups in a significant move. A massive surge in the cricketing fraternity's interest in watching associate nations play is believed to be the reason behind the ICC's U-turn. As revealed by Cricbuzz, the ICC discontinued the global qualifiers after its 2019 edition due to a sharp decline in the viewership of the tournament. 

However, the ICC, led by Jay Shah, is planning to bring back the global qualifying tournament after growing fan support for associate nations such as Nepal, the United States, and the Netherlands. So, the ICC aims to capitalise on the opportunity by conducting a full-fledged tournament for the top associate teams. Therefore, teams like India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, which qualify for the main event by virtue of their positions in the ICC T20I rankings, won't be part of it. 

The last ICC Global Qualifiers were held in 2019, featuring 14 teams competing in 51 matches, including the final, across two venues in Dubai. However, the ICC has not yet officially announced when the tournament will return.The Cricbuzz report states that the tournament will likely be reinstated after the 2028 T20 World Cup, as some of the regional qualification events for the marquee tournament have already kick-started.