Broadcaster fear: What if Pakistan fail to qualify for World Cup 2019?
Apr 6, 2019 at 2:15 PM
Pakistan’s poor form in ODI has left broadcasting executive worried the Men in Green’s chances to qualify for the 2019 World Cup. The reason for this insecurity is if the South Asian nation fails to qualify then it automatically washes out the hope of the high octane Indo-Pak match which generates vast sums of money for the television people during every major event.
Earlier this year International Cricket Council’s (ICC) chief executive, Dave Richardson, admitted the draws of the major events like Champions Trophy, World Cup T20 and 50 overs World Cup is planned in such a way that both the rival play against each other in the group stages.
The match between the two countries at the world T20 in March brought in a television audience in India alone of 83 million. It will top a billion worldwide and earn millions of dollars for television companies in advertising revenue, helping the ICC to continually increase the value of its right deals.
The most worrying factor is that Pakistan is currently lying low at No. 9 in the ranking charts and there seems to be no opportunity for them to sneak inside the top 8. Before September 30, 2017 – The cut-off for automatic qualification for the 2019 Cricket World Cup which is to be held at the home of cricket England.
The top eight teams in the rankings qualify directly for the World Cup and the remaining four will play off against the top four of the ICC World Cricket League for the two remaining please in a qualification tournament in Bangladesh in 2018.
However, if Pakistan fails to qualify, then it might become the first Test playing nation to fail to qualify for the World Cup. The decision to reduce of the participating teams just 110 created a bit controversy as associate nations blame the IC C for denying them opportunities.
They have two series against the West Indies and six matches in Australia, probably the hardest challenge of all, plus the Champions Trophy next year to move up the rankings before the cutoff point.
Pakistan are in ninth after years of underachievement in 50 over cricket. They have only won series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe since December 2013.