The Cricket World Cup 2023 qualifiers will feature ten teams competing for the coveted two spots to qualify for the major event, which will be held in India later this year. In addition to eight other nations, the qualifiers, which are scheduled to take place in Zimbabwe, will include two-time World Cup winners West Indies and former champions Sri Lanka.
Eight elite teams have already confirmed their participation in the mega-event, including Pakistan, Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and the host nation, India.
The stakes are at an all-time high as the teams compete to qualify for the Cricket World Cup 2023. Here is all the information you require regarding the World Cup qualifying matches.
Format:
In the first round of the competition, the top two teams from the World Cup Qualifier Play-off 2023, the top three teams from World Cup League 2, and the bottom five teams from the World Cup Super League 2020–23 will compete.
The first round will see these 10 teams split into two groups of five teams each. For the Super Sixes round, the top three teams from each group advance.
Each team will play the other once in the Super Sixes, and the top two teams at the end of the round will advance to the Cricket World Cup in 2023. The World Cup Qualifier tournament’s winner will be decided by a game between the top two teams in the standings.
Venue:
The competition will take place in Zimbabwe and start on June 18. Four locations—Harare Sports Club, Takashinga Cricket Club in Harare, Bulawayo Athletic Club, and Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo—in two cities will host the matches.
The final will be one of 19 games played at Harare Sports Club, and 15 games will be played in Bulawayo.
Both locations were also used for the 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifiers, which Afghanistan won after defeating West Indies in the championship match. Both teams secured their spots in the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Groups:
The ten teams competing in the competition have been split into two groups, Group A and Group B, each with five teams.
Group A includes the host nation, Zimbabwe, the West Indies, Nepal, the Netherlands, and the United States of America. In Group B, Sri Lanka is in the same division as Ireland, Oman, Scotland, and the United Arab Emirates.
While Group B games will take place in Bulawayo, Group A contests will be held in Harare.
The World Cup Super League 2020–23’s bottom five teams—Zimbabwe, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, and Netherlands—reached the tournament’s qualification cutoff to join the field. The top three teams in the World Cup League 2 2019–23 were Nepal, Oman, and Scotland, while the top two teams in the World Cup Qualifying Play-off 2023 were USA and UAE.
| Group A | Group B |
| Zimbabwe | Sri Lanka |
| West Indies | Ireland |
| Nepal | Oman |
| Netherlands | Scotland |
| USA | UAE |
Squads:
The full rosters of all the competing teams are listed below:
Zimbabwe:
| Craig Ervine (c) | Ryan Burl | Tendai Chatara | Bradley Evans | Joylord Gumbie |
| Luke Jongwe | Innocent Kaia | Clive Madande | Wessly Madhevere | Tadiwanashe Marumani |
| Wellington Masakadza | Blessing Muzarabani | Richard Ngarava | Sikandar Raza | Sean Williams |
West Indies:
| Shai Hope (c) | Rovman Powell | Shamarh Brooks | Yannic Cariah | Kecy Carty |
| Johnson Charles | Roston Chase | Jason Holder | Akeal Hosein | Alzarri Joseph |
| Brandon King | Kyle Mayers | Keemo Paul | Nicholas Pooran | Romario Shepherd |
Sri Lanka:
| Dasun Shanaka (c) | Kusal Mendis | Dimuth Karunaratne | Pathum Nissanka | Charith Asalanka |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | Sadeera Samarawickarama | Wanindu Hasaranga | Chamika Karunaratne | Dushmantha Chameera |
| Kasun Rajitha | Lahiru Kumara | Maheesh Theekshana | Matheesha Pathirana | Dushan Hemantha |
Netherlands:
| Scott Edwards (c) | Max O’Dowd | Logan van Beek | Vikram Singh | Aryan Dutt |
| Viv Kingma | Bas de Leede | Noah Croes | Ryan Klein | Teja Nidamanuru |
| Wesley Barresi | Shariz Ahmad | Clayton Floyd | Michael Levitt | Saqib Zulfiqar |
Ireland:
| Andrew Balbirnie (c) | Mark Adair | Curtis Campher | Gareth Delany | George Dockrell |
| Graham Hume | Josh Little | Andy McBrine | Bary McCarthy | PJ Moor |
| Paul Stirling | Harry Tector | Lorcan Tucker | Ben White | Craig Young |
Nepal:
| Rohit Paudel (c) | Kushal Bhurtel | Aasif Sheikh | Gyanendra Malla |
| Aarif Sheikh | Dipendra Singh Airee | Gulsan Jha | Sompal Kami |
| Sandeep Lamichhane | Bhim Sharki | Lalit Rajbanshi | Pratish JC |
| Kushal Malla | Karan KC | Arjun Saud | Kishor Mahato |
Scotland:
| Richie Berrington (c) | Matthew Cross | Alasdair Evans | Chris Greaves | Jack Jarvis |
| Michael Leask | Tom Mackintosh | Chris McBride | Brandon McMullen | George Munsey |
| Adrian Neill | Safyaan Sharif | Chris Sole | Hamza Tahir | Mark Watt |
Oman:
| Zeeshan Maqsood (c) | Aqib Ilyas | Jatinder Singh | Kashyap Prajapati | Shoaib Khan | Mohammad Nadeem |
| Sandeep Goud | Ayaan Khan | Suraj Kumar | Adeel Shafique | Naseem Khushi | Bilal Khan |
| Kaleemullah | Fayyaz Butt | Jay Odedra | Samay Shrivastav | Rafiullah | |
USA:
| Monank Patel (c) | Aaron Jones | Abhishek Paradkar | Ali Khan | Gajanand Singh |
| Jasdeep Singh | Kyle Philip | Nisarg Patel | Nostush Kenjige | Saiteja Mukkamalla |
| Saurabh Netravalkar | Shayan Jahangir | Steven Taylor | Sushant Modani | Usman Rafiq |
| Mohammad Waseem (c) | Ethan D’Souza | Ali Naseer | Vriitya Aravind | Rameez Shahzad |
| Jawadullah | Asif Khan | Rohan Mustafa | Aayan Khan | Junaid Siddique |
| Zahoor Khan | Sanchit Sharma | Aryansh Sharma | Karthik Meiyappan | Basil Hameed |
Schedule:
The full schedule for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup qualifiers is as follows:
| Date | Match | Venue |
| 18 June | Zimbabwe vs Nepal | Harare (HSC) |
| West Indies vs USA | Harare (TAK) | |
| 19 June | Sri Lanka vs UAE | Bulawayo (QSC) |
| Ireland vs Oman | Bulawayo (BAC) | |
| 20 June | Zimbabwe vs Netherlands | Harare (HSC) |
| Nepal vs USA | Harare (TAK) | |
| 21 June | Ireland vs Scotland | Bulawayo (QSC) |
| Oman vs UAE | Bulawayo (BAC) | |
| 22 June | West Indies vs Nepal | Harare (HSC) |
| Netherlands vs USA | Harare (TAK) | |
| 23 June | Sri Lanka vs Oman | Bulawayo (QSC) |
| Scotland vs UAE | Bulawayo (BAC) | |
| 24 June | Zimbabwe vs West Indies | Harare (HSC) |
| Netherlands vs Nepal | Harare (TAK) | |
| 25 June | Sri Lanka vs Ireland | Bulawayo (QSC) |
| Scotland vs Oman | Bulawayo (BAC) | |
| 26 June | Zimbabwe vs USA | Harare (HSC) |
| West Indies vs Netherlands | Harare (TAK) | |
| 27 June | Sri Lanka vs Scotland | Bulawayo (QSC) |
| Ireland vs UAE | Bulawayo (BAC) | |
| SUPER SIX, PLAY-OFF & FINAL | ||
| 29 June | A2 vs B2 | Bulawayo (QSC) |
| 30 June | A3 vs B1 | Bulawayo (QSC) |
| A5 vs B4 (Playoff) | Harare (TAK) | |
| 01 July | A1 vs B3 | Harare (HSC) |
| 02 July | A2 vs B1 | Bulawayo (QSC) |
| A4 vs B5 (Playoff) | Harare (TAK) | |
| 03 July | A3 vs B2 | Harare (HSC) |
| 04 July | A2 vs B3 | Bulawayo (QSC) |
| 7th vs 8th (Playoff) | Harare (TAK) | |
| 05 July | A1 vs B2 | Harare (HSC) |
| 06 July Advertisement | A3 vs B3 | Bulawayo (QSC) |
| 9th vs 10th (Playoff) | Harare (TAK) | |
| 07 July | A1 vs B1 | Harare (HSC) |
| 09 July | FINAL | Harare (HSC) |
Read more: Pakistan Women’s Cricket Team’s Complete Schedule for the Next 2 Years
