How Many Teams will Play in the 2023 Cricket World Cup?

The biggest event in international cricket is just around the corner. The 13th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup will commence on October 5 in Ahmedabad. Defending champions England will take on runners-up New Zealand in the repeat of the previous grand finale. The 2019 edition saw a tied super over with England pipping the Blackcaps over the boundary count to clinch their first-ever 50-over World Cup.

10 teams will play in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup that will be played in India. England, New Zealand, India, Bangladesh, Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands are the 10 participating teams.

ICC introduced the ‘ICC Cricket World Cup Super League 2020-2023’ to add some importance to the ODI format and decided that the top 8 teams with most points will directly qualify for the World Cup. India automatically qualified as tournament hosts. 13 teams participated in the Super League with the bottom 5 fighting it out in the World Cup Qualifier for the remaining two slots.

The top eight teams got direct entry to the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. The remaining teams played Qualifier along with five associate teams.

1. England | Captain – Jos Buttler

The defending champions finished second on the Super League table with 155 points in 24 matches. England won 15 matches and formed a settled unit across all the 3 formats. Post the retirement of skipper Eoin Morgan after the title win, wicketkeeper batter Jos Buttler has taken over the reigns and will take the team into the upcoming tournament.

The 2019 World Cup was the most special event for the Poms as they won 6 games and lost 3 to move to the semifinals and got the better of arch rivals and previous champions Australia in the semi-final to find the competitive New Zealand team in the action packed grand finale. The game was tied and so was the dramatic super over which followed. The tournament playing conditions had a clause for such a case that the team with the most boundary count shall be announced as the winner, resulting in England lifting the trophy for the first time.

England have also retained 9 players from their previous World Cup squad. With the retirements of Morgan and Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson and James Vince are the players missing out. Looking at England’s form, opener Jason Roy has scored the most number of runs in the Super League for the team with 677 runs in 22 innings. Experienced leg spinner Adil Rashid has got 30 wickets at an economy of 5.74 becoming the most successful bowler for England in the period making them the number 5 ranked team in the ICC ODI rankings.

2. New Zealand | Captain – Kane Williamson

The unlucky runner ups of the World Cup, the Blackcaps have dealt a big blow with a long-term injury to their regular skipper and one of the best batters in the world, Kane Williamson. Though he is named in the provisional squad as the captain, his match fitness is still unassessed.

New Zealand are ranked 4th in the rankings and topped the Super League table winning 16 off 24 matches, ending the pool with 175 points.  Keeper batter Tom Latham has led the team ably in the absence of Williamson scoring 759 runs at an average of 47.43. Williamson, however has the highest batting average of all Kiwi batters in the League with 381 runs at 54.42. Fast bowler Matt Henry has picked up 27 wickets conceding only 4 runs per over at an average of 20.14.

Williamson led the team to the finals last time around and was also adjudged the player of the tournament having scored 578 runs at an average of 82.57, hitting 2 centuries and as many fifties. New Zealand won 5 games to finish 4th in the points table and defeated India across two-days in the rain hit semifinal. The super over fiasco kept the trophy away from the Kiwis by the barest of margins. With a confident and experienced team, Williamson will be looking ahead to go one notch up the next time around.

3. India | Captain – Rohit Sharma

Hosts of the upcoming event, India automatically qualified for the World Cup and also finished 4th in the Super League winning 13 games and securing 139 points. Change in the captaincy means Virat Kohli will be back playing as a pure batter in his 4th 50-over World Cup under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. The skipper will play his 3rd World Cup and will lead the side with allrounder Hardik Pandya appointed as his deputy.

Plenty of changes from the previous edition but 8 players have been retained from the original squad that was announced. Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur are set to get their first taste of the World Cup. Gill with 466 runs in the Super League has also scored the most runs than anyone since 2022 and will open the innings with the captain. Shreyas has scored just a run lesser than Gill in the League. Shardul Thakur has got 20 wickets in the Super League, topping the charts for India.

It was a heartbreaking affair for the men-in-blue in the previous edition under the leadership of Kohli. After topping the table with 7 wins and just one loss, the semifinal game was heavily affected by rain and was pushed to the reserve day. Chasing 240 to win, a top order collapse followed by a good partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and now retired MS Dhoni kept India in the hunt but after the latter’s untimely run-out, the Kiwis wrapped up the tail and booked their tickets for the finals.
India is ranked number 3 in the ICC team ranking and will be hopeful for another big performance at home after they successfully did the job back in 2011, winning the Cup for the 2nd time after a long wait of 28 years.

4. Pakistan | Captain – Babar Azam
 

One-time winner and the number 1 ranked team - the Babar Azam led side are strong contenders for the trophy playing in familiar subcontinent conditions. Pakistan finished 5th in the super league with 13 wins in 21 matches totaling to 130 points. Captain Azam topped the run scoring charts in the Super League with 1454 runs at a staggering average of 76.52 and a good strike of 93.86 with six centuries and 9 fifties. With 30 wickets, Haris Rauf has been their best bowler in the league.

The previous edition was another heart breaking affair for the team as they finished at equal number of points with New Zealand but failed to move to the semi-final due to a poor net run rate despite winning 5 games. Match against Sri Lanka was abandoned due to rain and had Pakistan got 1 more point, they would have made it to the semifinals. The team was led by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed but now Azam has took over the reigns and has made the team number 1 in the world.

5. Australia | Captain – Pat Cummins

The most successful team in the history of World Cups, Australia are 5-time champions and always a strong contender to be crowned World champions. Led by fast bowler Pat Cummins, the Kangaroos are only behind Pakistan in the ODI rankings and won 12 off 18 matches in the Super League to qualify for the Cup. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey has scored the most runs in the League with 563 runs next to his name at an average of 40.21. The batting order looks settled with the presence of Steve Smith, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh along with Carey. The bowling line up featuring skipper Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, seasoned campaigner Mitchell Starc and spinners Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar make it a fierce looking combination. Zampa also has the most number of wickets in the Super League competition with 41 scalps to his name.

Australia fell short in the semifinals of the previous edition after they were comprehensively beaten by arch rivals England by 8 wickets and 107 deliveries remaining. The visiting Australians were bundled out for 223 in 49 overs thanks to a combined bowling effort led by Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid. The team was previously led by Smith but now has Pat Cummins as the able leader.

6. Afghanistan | Captain – Hashmatullah Shahidi

One of the teams in the international circuit that keeps getting better and better with the number of opportunities. After successfully getting a full-member status, the Afghan side gave teams like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka a good run for their money winning series against Zimbabwe, Ireland and Netherlands also drawing the away series against Sri Lanka to confirm direct qualification.

Middle order batter Rahmat Shah has been the top scorer for the team in the Super League scoring 724 runs with an excellent average of 51.71. Ibrahim Zadran also found red hot form averaging 72 with the bat. Rashid Khan with his all-round skills is the strength of the team picking 30 wickets and scoring 229 runs at a strike rate of 133.91. The team will be led by Hashmatullah Shahidi, another in-form player.

The previous edition didn’t go as well for the Afghan side as they finished at the bottom of the table losing all their nine games. But the team has now gained experience, the team looks much more settled. The number 9 ranking in the ICC ratings indicates that the Afghans could be the dark horse in the World Cup.

7. Bangladesh | Captain – Shakib Al Hassn

Plagued by injuries, untimely retirements and other issues, the number 7 ICC ranked team has done well in the important World Cup Super league securing 155 points with 15 victories in 24 matches, a superior net run rate meant that England took the number 2 spot in the table. The most experienced allrounder Shakib Al Hasan will lead the side as confirmed by the board but the availability of senior pro Tamim Iqbal, who announced his retirement but reversed his decision, is yet to be confirmed as the squad is yet not named.

Tamim has also been the team’s leading run scorer in the Super League with 783 runs, his experienced mates Mushfiqur Rahim (755 runs) and Litton Das (655 runs) follow suit. Skipper Shakib picked up the most number of wickets for the tigers (31) and is followed by off spin bowling allrounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz (30), Mustafizur Rahman (27) and Taskin Ahmed (26). The Bangladesh bowling attack is one of the strongest amongst the rivals.

The 2019 edition yielded only 3 wins for the team: against the strong South Africans, West Indies and Afghanistan. Shakib Al Hasan scored over 600 runs with a couple of centuries and 5 half centuries, Mustafizur was the joint third highest wicket taker with 20 wickets but their efforts weren’t enough for the team to get through to the semifinals.

8. South Africa | Captain – Temba Bavuma

Led by top order batter Temba Bavuma, South Africa became the final team to get direct qualification in the tournament. South Africa lost more games than they won in the Super League finishing at 98 points with 9 wins in 21 matches.

With only 7 players in the squad who featured in the previous edition, the Proteas have been harped by retirements and other administrative issues. Injuries to fast bowlers has been a concern in the past but the selectors have picked the strongest bowling attack including all of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi in the side. Rassie van der Dussen scored 650 runs in the Super League averaging 50 and also has his career batting average up at 58.83. Experience of David Miller will come in handy, the southpaw churned 563 runs in 13 innings at an average of 62.55 striking at 116.8. Left arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi has picked up 21 wickets with Rabada and fellow spinner Keshav Maharaj taking 20 and 17 scalps respectively.

In the previous edition, the team went through a lean patch having missed the speed gun Dale Steyn and Anrich Nortje due to injury. The Proteas managed to win only three games; versus Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Australia respectively which meant they failed to seal the spot in the top 4 after crashing out of back in 2015 losing to New Zealand in the dying moments of the game. Wicketkeeper opener Quinton de Kock has already announced that this will be his last tournament in the format and the team will be spirited to not just give him a send-off but to improve their poor record in the history of the World Cup.

9. Sri Lanka | Captain – Dasun Shanaka

One of the most successful sides in the last 3 decades, there has been a big slump in the Lankan cricket team since 2015 after the retirements of Kumar Sangakkara, TM Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara and others. The team went in a transitioning phase but has failed to put together a fighting squad now and again. After they won just 7 out of 24 games in the Super League, failing to directly qualify for the World Cup. The selectors overhauled the team giving a comeback to Test skipper Dimuth Karunaratne amongst some other changes. As a result, the team led by Dasun Shanaka won all 8 games on the trot emerging victorious in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier played in Zimbabwe to finally seal their spot. Though not qualifying directly would be a dent on the team but putting a spirited performance to win 8 games on the trot means the team has something to achieve come the World Cup.

Spin twins Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana picked up 22 and 21 wickets respectively topping the wicket taking chart in the Qualifying tournament.  Fast bowlers Dilshan Madushanka, Lahiru Kumara, Matheesha Pathirana and Kasun Rajitha have had good form recently. The Sri Lankan team also has the best bowling strike rate since 2022. Top order bat Pathum Nissanka (417 runs at 69.5) and Karunaratne (369 runs at 61.5) have led the batting charts.

The 2019 edition yielded only 3 wins for the Lankan Lions and a 20 run victory against eventual champions England was the only positive sign for the side in the whole tournament. Sri Lanka had their games against Pakistan and Bangladesh abandoned, the only team with multiple fixtures abandoned due to rain. The spirits are high for the Lankan fans as they set foot in the neighbouring country to stake a claim for the Cup.