Every cricket-playing nation dreams of reaching the ODI World Cup, but for associate nations, simply qualifying is a year-long challenge. Teams battle through regional competitions and the Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 and Challenge League pathways before earning a shot at the World Cup Qualifier.
Last week, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced a significant change to the 2027 ODI World Cup format. While 14 teams will qualify for the tournament in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, only 11 will directly enter the group stage. The remaining three teams will contest in a Super Series, with just one progressing further.
The move has drawn criticism from several associate nations, who believe it makes an already demanding qualification pathway even tougher. In an exclusive conversation with Sportstar, Oman captain Vinayak Shukla and former skipper Jatinder Singh explain why the decision has disappointed associate teams, the challenges of competing with limited opportunities, and what they believe the ICC can do to truly grow the global game.
Q: What are your initial thoughts on the ICC’s recent change and the addition of the Super Series as another Qualifier?
Vinayak: I think it’s a bit harsh on associate nations, because we worked really hard for the last three years to try and get into the World Cup. I think the World Cup is the most prestigious tournament for any associate nation, as we don’t play any red-ball cricket. So the World Cup is the only opportunity we get to play against the full members; otherwise, we don’t get any chances to play them. So we are a bit disappointed with that. We want equal opportunities to represent our country at the biggest stage. It’s (Super Series) like adding one more qualifier. It undermines the efforts of the associate nations and the emerging nations that have been working hard over the past few years.
Jatinder: I quite agree with Vinayak, whatever he has said, because our chances are very limited when we talk about the 50-over format. T20 is okay, fine; we get to play with the big teams sometimes. But when it comes to ODI cricket, everyone, especially when they are the full members, just step aside. They don’t want to play because there is no competition. And we don’t play a lot of 50-over games. If you see our cycle, we get to play around 12 ODIs per year for three years. And based on our ranking, we get to play in the Qualifiers. So, it is disheartening to see the new format that has been introduced right before the end of our cycle. And as Vinayak said, where are we going to show our talent or our capabilities if we don’t get the opportunity to play with the full members?
We are not a full-member side. We are associates. So, for us, the epitome of the game is playing the World Cup. If that becomes a bit hard to play, then it becomes a lot more difficult for the players to rub shoulders with the greats and take the learnings from the game. And then you can implement those things back in your country. But if that is not going to happen, it becomes a lot more difficult for the players to showcase their talent.
Q: What do you think about the globalisation and expansion of cricket?
Jatinder: When it comes to globalising the game, we become a bit harsh on the associates who are playing regular cricket for a very long period of time. I think the ICC should step in, take the views of the other boards, and see what are the other platforms we can open for the associate nations to just get to that level. If they can just get to that level, that is more than enough. Because every country has its own pros and cons. So, I believe if they can sort of make a tournament where the associate members get to play more 50-over matches than T20s, I think that will cover the gap.
Vinayak: If we are not getting a platform to show our skills, then what’s the point of playing cricket for the past three years if we are going to play against the associate countries only? And once you consider cricket as a global sport, I think you need to give better and equal opportunities to the associate nations as well. This is good for the future of sports as well. So, by providing opportunities and more stages to play against the full members, like in T20s. You have seen how associate nations have been doing wonders in the T20s, and are able to beat the full members and provide some exceptional games. So, this can also be done in the ODI World Cup. It’s just the need for a proper platform and regular games against the full members.
Q: And this is the time when we are also talking about the relevance of ODI cricket as well…
Jatinder: To add to it, if the ICC believes some associate teams aren’t at the required level, the ICC can step into the local associates, the eight members who are playing this FTP (Futures Tour Programme) cycle, that is, the League 2 series.
They can mandate playing a longer version of the game, a three-day or a four-day format. So, at least you get to play the longer format of the game. Then you can step in and play with the full members. I think that’s something we can really look into, and if we can implement it, it will help a lot.
Q: So, is there a willingness to play multi-day cricket among the association nations?
Jatinder: See, it is just a start. The idea could be in incubation. If they can start this day’s cricket, suppose for the eight L2 teams, you know that four teams might be playing in the World Cup, like it was supposed earlier before the change. So, you already know that eight teams are playing in the L2.
So, for them to come to that level, the ICC can mandate that these eight teams play the three-day or four-day formats in their domestic tournaments, just to get the hang of playing at the top level and the longer version of the game. So, you get better ideas, better game awareness, and better understanding. I think in that way we can cover the gap.
Jatinder Singh feels the ICC can mandate playing a longer version of the game, a three-day or a four-day format, which can turn to be helpful in the long run.
| Photo Credit:
ICC via Getty Images
Jatinder Singh feels the ICC can mandate playing a longer version of the game, a three-day or a four-day format, which can turn to be helpful in the long run.
| Photo Credit:
ICC via Getty Images
Q: And the senior sides can also send ‘A’ teams to tour for these series…
Jatinder: Absolutely. They will also have to chip in with the nearby countries. Suppose for us, India is close. So, if they send their B team or Pakistan, if they send their B team, it will be a golden opportunity to play against those sides. Suppose the England team is travelling to India. They can stay in Oman for a week. They can put up a camp and play a couple of games with us before flying to India. So that way, they can help the associates lift the game.
Vinayak: I totally agree. Since every team wants to do a pre-tour, and if a full member is doing a pre-tour, the ICC can mandate it. If you want to play against a particular full member, and two full members are playing, then you can just go and play a pre-tour at any associate country. And then go and play your bilaterals or whatever you are going to play. By that, I think associates will get more exposure to playing against a full member.
Q: What kind of infrastructure exists right now and things you want your Board and ICC to bring more of?
Jatinder: When you talk about the infrastructure consisting of these eight teams, I think they have really good infrastructure. They can accommodate a full member side easily. I will talk about Oman. Here, everything is under one roof. We have indoor facilities and two turf grounds. We have seven nets on the side. So, we get to play on the centre wicket.
So, those kinds of facilities. We have the gym inside. So, all the facilities are under one roof. So, you don’t have to go to multiple places to search for them. You just have to come to the ground. Everything is arranged there. So, we have a world-class facility.
Q: In the Netherlands, for example, they can’t train at home for a good long period because of the weather conditions, etc. They have to go out and train. What role has ICC so far played in solving such kinds of problems?
Jatinder: I don’t think the weather is something which is in anybody’s control. But these teams have their own plans about how they have to train, and where. So, accordingly, I think they go to different places when their country’s weather is a bit harsh. So, I think they go to different places and play. But I don’t think ICC intervenes in your training, and where you’re training and all those things. So, when it comes to bilateral series, the board is communicating with the other board, and ICC is aligned with it. So, even among the associate nations, there are hardly any bilateral series. So, ICC can help design a tour: you get to play a couple of T20s, multi-day cricket, and a couple of 50-over games. So, that’s how I think you can just up your game.
Vinayak: I guess every associate nation board is ready to put in all kinds of efforts if they are getting the platform from the ICC. So, whether it’s a red-ball or a white-ball format, I think everyone is quite ready and all invested to get into all this kind of stuff to provide better facilities and the games to their associate players so that they can match the level of the members.
Vinayak Shukla feels more matches with full members is necessary to help Oman with exposure and growth of the game in his country.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Vinayak Shukla feels more matches with full members is necessary to help Oman with exposure and growth of the game in his country.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Q: You guys only have 12 ODIs per year. What do you guys do in between the two series when there’s a long gap?
Jatinder: Usually, here the weather becomes very harsh during June, July, and August. So, in June and July, we don’t have anything. So, that is the time when the boys travel back to their homes for their holidays. Once we are back, we have the training camp. We don’t play a lot of T20s.
Our main focus is to play the longer version of the game, the 50-over format; our eyes are mainly on the L2 series. We train for five days a week; then on Friday and Saturday, we have off. Sometimes we have camps on Saturday, and also when a tournament is approaching.
Vinayak: And we have a lot of domestic cricket also. So, we are playing a couple of 50-over games and some T20S. We usually try to invite some other teams as well. Like from India, some State team which is playing exceptionally well in the domestic. So, it will give a better opportunity and some exposure to the players and will be helpful for us to prepare for the L2.
Jatinder: Basically, our domestic season starts from September. And it ends by March or, at most, by April, depending on the weather. So, that is our season time. But usually, we put a camp very early. Our camp has already started this month. So, now we have a team coming from India. So, we will be playing with them just to get into that 50-over zone. We also have this ACC Premier Cup coming up; that’s a qualification for the Asia Cup.
Since it’s a 50-over World Cup next year, the Asia Cup will be 50-over this time, and the winner will get to play the Asia Cup. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams will play the Emerging Teams Asia Cup. So, that way, we get to play a lot of cricket. So, cricket is always on. If we don’t have anything with the ICC, the ACC tournaments will be there on the side. And our domestic is there also. Whenever we are available in the country, we have to play domestically for our respective corporate teams.
Q: You are currently fourth in the League 2 series, and every game is a must-win; otherwise, you can slip to fifth or sixth and have to play the Qualifier Playoffs – a longer route to the World Cup Qualifiers. So the pressure is always on when you play an L2 game.
Jatinder: I think that’s the reason we have put the camp now, and the coaches are really working on the players. Strength and Conditioning guys are putting their heart out with the team, making sure that everybody is in the right frame of mind. This is the right time to push ourselves.
When you have prepared well, (pressure) things don’t come your way and bother you. If you’re just worried about the result, I don’t think you’re following the process. So, we try everything within our control, and after that, we can just execute; the rest will fall in place.
Q: Jatinder, you were the captain earlier, and now Vinayak is the captain of the side. What do you guys feel about the leadership role and how important it is for an associate team, especially to keep the guys motivated?
Vinayak: I think Paji has done a great job as a leader, and this makes my work really easy. So, when Paji was a captain, when the chips were down, he just brought the team together and put the boys in a great zone. With highs and lows, they know how to move forward. So, all credit goes to Paji because whatever he has done in the past two years for the team, it’s really special, and that’s gonna make things easy for me.
Jatinder: For me, I would say Vinayak is a really great mind. The way he takes the challenges is really heartening to see – the way he takes the team, he thinks, and the game plans he has. I think his game-reading is phenomenal. I think for me, it was just bringing everybody together on the same page and playing for each other.
When you play with unity, for each other, then you don’t play for the milestone. Once you start playing for each other, you start appreciating each other’s performance; I think you can sit back and say, we have built a team. Though we lack a bit of experience and exposure, that’s how we’re going to gain. So, these are the small things that we try to replicate in the middle and bring everybody together on the same page.
Oman has played in three T20 World Cups so far, with its last appearance in the tournament coming earlier this year.
| Photo Credit:
ICC via Getty Images
Oman has played in three T20 World Cups so far, with its last appearance in the tournament coming earlier this year.
| Photo Credit:
ICC via Getty Images
Especially when the chips are down, and you have to put your hand up, and everybody gets a belief then. So, I’m very sure that everybody has learned a lot in the past two and a half years, and I’m sure that Vinayak will take the team to the next level because he has a very good mind.
Q: You guys play a cycle for a long time, so do you plan for a specific approach that you want to play in such a way, like how full members kind of have?
Jatinder: When these full members play, the tracks and the pitches are fantastic; their grounds are fantastic. Whereas in associate cricket, the wickets are completely different; you get to play on the wet wickets. You can’t play with an approach but with the conditions. In associates, the biggest challenge is to tackle the conditions because every condition is different.
Like in Canada, you get to play on the wet pitches, but if you play in Namibia, there are seaming conditions throughout the day, and the outfield is very slow. So, you have to play according to the conditions first. Then you have to bring your A game to it.
Q: And then suddenly you get to play a full-member side with a particular approach on venues you are not familiar with…
Jatinder: Exactly. So, our preparation and everything are very different from what the full members preach. So, our preparation is condition-to-condition. We prepare depending on the place and the bowlers we are going to face. We always try to play and take the game deep. Play the full 50 overs and then see what more we can add on to it.
Vinayak: The main thing is that we have to adapt. You just can’t go with the same approach since we hardly travel to one country twice a year. You just go once a year, and then you have to wait two or three years to go over there and play again. So, you just can’t play the same game again at different venues. You have to adapt to the conditions and change your game.
Jatinder: Even if you have played that style of game on that particular venue and then you get to play on the same venue, but after two years, you can’t have the same approach because the conditions have changed, the soil has changed. So, a lot of other aspects are there.
Q: Vinayak, you started your cricketing career in India (in Kanpur). What are the different challenges in competing in the Indian system and competing in an associate system?
Vinayak: In India, you get a lot of games; you’ll be around cricket throughout the year. Even if you are not getting an opportunity to play in a particular state, you can go to different states and play their leagues. Now, all the states are having their own T20 leagues, so you’ll get exposure from there. In associate nations, cricket is very limited. You won’t get a lot of players to compete with, and that’s going to affect your performance as well.
Because if you play someone who is at a very good level, then you want to play like them; you can watch and learn so much. That’s something I feel is missing in the associate countries because of limited players, and you don’t get a lot of matches to play. The conditions are different from what we have back in India.
Vinayak Shukla feels exposure is the main element missing in cricket by associate nations, and introduction of that could help the game grow in Oman.
| Photo Credit:
ICC via Getty Images
Vinayak Shukla feels exposure is the main element missing in cricket by associate nations, and introduction of that could help the game grow in Oman.
| Photo Credit:
ICC via Getty Images
Jatinder: I agree. If I talk about myself, I started my cricket career in Oman. I had no coach, nor did I go to any academy. I started playing on cemented wickets, the mud grounds – we call them brown grounds. In 2008, we got the AstroTurf, and in 2011, we got the turf. So only then did we start playing on turf.
As Vinayak rightly said, the playing opportunities are very limited here. You also have the three-year criteria that you need to be in the country for 320 days, and only then are you eligible to play. In Oman, we have corporate cricket, which is played weekly. So you only get to play once a week. The number of matches are very low compared to India. In India, you improve your game without even knowing because you keep playing and you see others play.
But here, it can get stagnant. You hardly play once a week, and train for 3-4 days. If you have done well, you are in a good mood, but if you don’t do well, then your whole week is ruined thinking about the game. So these small factors make a huge difference in the player’s profile.
Q: India played the Emerging Asia Cup in Oman in 2024 and then in Qatar next year. So it’s only once a year that you get to play these sides.
Jatinder: If you have done well in the ACC Premier Cup, you get to play with the emerging teams, and if you have done exceptionally well, you play in the Asia Cup. If there’s a 50-over Asia Cup, only one team will qualify from the Premier Cup. If it’s a T20 format, then three teams will play the Asia Cup.
Q: Coming back, now that a lot of associate nations have said the format change is disappointing. What would your alternate format be in the ODI World Cup?
Jatinder: I think the original format was quite good, where four teams were going through. This is pretty much disheartening, since our opportunities have been limited now.
Vinayak: I would like to add that if you wanted to keep this format, you should’ve informed us a bit earlier so that we could’ve prepared in a better manner for the past three years. And another important thing is that ICC needs to provide at least one or two opportunities every year against full-member nations, so that we are prepared well in advance for the qualifiers.
Published on Jul 21, 2026
