Fifty years of blunders: How the ICC keeps getting the World Cup format wrong
India Today
For over five decades, the ICC has repeatedly reshaped World Cup formats in the name of innovation, often sacrificing clarity and competitive integrity. From Super Six confusion to modern pre-seeding chaos, cricket's biggest tournament keeps solving problems it creates.
Here are two questions for cricket fans:
Which team did India play in the semifinals of the 2003 Cricket World Cup?
When did India and Pakistan first meet in a Cricket World Cup?
If you know the answers, you understand the long history of experimentation and structural blunders in ICC tournament formats.
At the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, being held in India and Sri Lanka, something structurally absurd has unfolded. All four group winners — India, Zimbabwe, South Africa and West Indies — have ended up in the same Super Eight group. The runners-up, meanwhile, face each other in what appears to be the comparatively easier Super Eight group.
In other words, the 2026 T20 World Cup has created a scenario where finishing first in your group effectively punishes you.
Star Sports' T20 World Cup promos reduce epic rivalries to cheap laughs, relying on lazy lines and cruel jabs. The classless hype does a disservice to fans who crave genuine cricketing drama.
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UEFA have opened an investigation into allegations that Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni racially abused Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr in Lisbon. If proven guilty, both player and club could face heavy disciplinary sanctions.
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Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes Abhishek Sharma's recent slump may be due to a mental issue after he was dismissed for another duck against the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup 2026.
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Hours after the Tarique Rahman-led BNP government was sworn in, newly appointed state minister for sports, Aminul Haque, said he wanted cases against Awami League-loyalist cricketers, Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, resolved so that they could return to cricket. The former Bangladesh captains served as Awami League MPs and face multiple charges.
T20 World Cup 2026: Shivam Dube credits MS Dhoni's advice for helping him overcome his short-ball struggles. The all-rounder's 66 against the Netherlands proves how far he's come since those early IPL days.