West Indies’ recent series defeat to Australia has hampered their hopes of direct qualification for the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

The ICC Cricket World Cup Super League is a competition that determines the teams that will directly qualify for the next 50-over World Cup. The system replaced the ODI rankings, which had earlier decided the sides that would directly qualify for the multi-nation event. The tournament was introduced after the 2019 World Cup. All teams play the same number of matches, with 13 sides playing 24 times each, and are ranked by their results by the end of the cycle.

The top seven teams directly qualify for the World Cup that will be next held in 2023, with India’s place at the event already booked as hosts, while the remaining sides advance to the Qualifiers, from where the finalists will advance to the main event.

Why West Indies could play their second successive qualifying tournament

Though Windies are currently sixth on the Super League table with 40 points (four wins and five losses from nine games). A team will likely need to win between 10 and 12 games to qualify for the World Cup automatically, and with 15 games left to play, they initially appear well placed.

West Indies have already played Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Australia in the Super League thus far, but greater challenges await. The other teams that they are scheduled to play are Pakistan, Ireland, India, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. The four teams they do not play are Afghanistan, England, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

India and New Zealand are the top two ranked ODI sides in the world, and while West Indies might hope of avoiding a whitewash in a home series against the Black Caps, it’s conceivable that they could lose both 3-0. If so, even thumpings of the Netherlands and Ireland – no guarantees considering the Dutch beat the Irish in a recent series, who themselves drew at home with South Africa – would leave them needing some sort of result against Pakistan.

Though the side is in the top half of the Super League currently, they may yet come to rue their 3-0 loss to Bangladesh

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