The International Cricket Council (ICC) is reportedly to reduce the maximum number of members in each squad for the World Cup tournaments. However, it can affect the planning of big teams like India, England etc.
According to a recent report in Mirror, the ICC has decided to allow the maximum 23-member squad for each teams owing to the global tournaments. The previous rule was the 25-member squad for each team.
The ICC has already started this lesser number of members rule in global events:
The new rule has already taken effect in the ongoing ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2020 in South Africa.
Also, the 23-member squad will be followed in the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia, starting on 21st February.
Now, the ICC is likely to continue the same format in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 and other future tournaments.
Australia will also host the upcoming Men’s T20 WC from 18th October to 15th November 2020. If this rule is introduced for the next men’s tournaments, then some teams can face major problems.
In one past ICC event, England relied on 28-member squad. The Indian team is also known to follow the large members in the global events.
In fact, in ongoing New Zealand tour, the Indian team has a total of 28 members, including the 15-member squad. Apart from the players, there are also four coaches, one trainer, one physio, two throwdown specialists, two masseurs, one manager, one media manager and one logistic manager.
The Mirror report has also added that the ICC will not allow the extra members even if the board takes the responsibility of their all expenses. During the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Dhawal Kulkarni was the unofficial 16th member of the Indian team.
In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Rishabh Pant was initially the unofficial member of the Indian team.
Later, the youngster was included in the team as the replacement of injured Shikhar Dhawan.
Reasons for the new rule:
The ICC has taken this new decision to reduce the logistical burden and cut down the additional expenses.
The Mirror report has claimed that the decision was taken during the board meeting in 2018.
Now, it will be interesting to see how the big teams react to this development.