The ODI World Cup will be played next year. There is still time left, but teams are competing for direct entry. Meanwhile, Ireland has suffered a major setback. The first match of the ODI series between Afghanistan and Ireland has been cancelled due to rain, which has dashed Ireland’s hopes of direct entry. There are still four matches left in the series, but winning them will not benefit the team much. Meanwhile, the dates for the qualifiers have been announced.
The five-match ODI series between Afghanistan and Ireland has started. However, the first match was cancelled due to rain, and the toss was not even held. The cancellation of this match has closed Ireland’s path to entering the World Cup. If Ireland wanted to improve their ICC rankings and qualify directly for the World Cup, they had only one option: defeat Afghanistan 5-0 in the five-match series. Then, they had to hope that the West Indies would lose the ODI series between India and the West Indies. This would have boosted Ireland’s rankings and allowed them to qualify directly.
Now that the first ODI has been washed out due to rain, Ireland can win the series by a maximum of 4-0. Although the team is not yet out of contention for a place in the World Cup, it still has another option. Now it will have to play in the World Cup qualifiers, in which 10 teams from around the world will participate.