The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced a revamped format for the men's 2027 One-Day International (ODI) World Cup, which could lead to an additional fixture between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.

The restructure, revealed on Wednesday, follows concerns over too many dead rubbers and foregone conclusions at the recent T20 World Cup, leading to sparse crowds.

While next year's edition in Southern Africa remains a 14-team competition, the three lowest-ranked qualifiers will now compete in a preliminary round, with only one advancing to a 12-team main group stage.

The main stage will feature two pools of six teams, with a new 'Super Seven' stage replacing the previous 'Super Six' round-robin. Notably, there will be no quarterfinals, denying the 50-over tournament the added jeopardy of knockout matches.

The ICC insisted in a statement that the new structure 'creates greater context, competitiveness and consequence during the event.'

An additional team in the group stage also increases the prospects of an extra match between India and Pakistan, whose bitter rivalry has soured further in recent years. The match is the most valuable in cricket due to lucrative broadcast rights and commercial revenues.

However, India and Pakistan no longer meet outside ICC events, as political tensions effectively bar them from playing each other. The last bilateral series India played in Pakistan was in 2006.

Another change approved at the ICC's annual board meeting in Edinburgh sees the 2028 men's T20 World Cup remain a 20-team competition, but with 10 teams qualifying from the group stage instead of eight. The top two in the 'Super 10' automatically secure semifinal spots, with a new eliminator stage to decide their opponents.

Separately, the ICC approved a $12.82 million loan to Cricket West Indies (CWI) to support the member board. West Indies captain Hayley Matthews recently lamented an 'unfair' funding ecosystem after her team's semifinal loss to Australia.

Source: www.aljazeera.com