T20 World Cup 2022: Bangladesh, Afghanistan Assured Super-12 Entry; West Indies, Sri Lanka To Play First Round

Defending champions West Indies not only crashed out of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 but slipped from the eight teams that have automatically qualified for the Super-12 stage of the next edition in 2022. (More Cricket News)

Following the West Indies' loss to Australia in their final group match of this year's premier event, the ICC confirmed that only eight teams will go straight through to the 2022 Super-12.

Those eight teams are hosts Australia, England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

"The automatic qualifiers for the Super 12 stage were determined to be the winner and runner-up of the current T20 World Cup, alongside the next six highest ranking teams on the ICC Men’s T20I rankings at the cut-off date of November 15," ICC stated.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan, the team sitting seventh, cannot drop below the eighth spot irrespective of future outcomes in this tournament following West Indies’ defeat against Australia. That loss has seen West Indies drop to 10th on the rankings, just behind Sri Lanka, with Bangladesh rising to eighth.

Going into Saturday’s action, the current top six teams on the rankings - England, Pakistan, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia – had already done enough to ensure they would not slide out of those positions this tournament.

Alongside West Indies, 2021 Super-12 teams Sri Lanka, Namibia, and Scotland will also start next year’s tournament from the first round.