T20 World Cup: Australia could miss qualifying to the Super 12 stage

T20 World Cup 2022: No Australia in Super 12 in 2022? – Australia could miss qualifying directly to the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup 2022 at their home when Australia host the next edition of the tournament in a year’s time. Even though Aaron Finch & Co have had a strong history, the fact that they are 7th on the ICC Rankings and need to reach the semifinals stage of the T20 World Cup 2021 could prove to be a difficult task.

Australia currently are in the seventh position in the ICC T20 rankings with 240 points to their name. Amazingly, they were first towards the end of last year and were one of the favourites to win the showpiece event to be played in their own backyard.

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T20 World Cup 2022: Australia in danger of missing out on direct qualification to Super 12 in WC 2022 at home – Check why

However, the situation has changed completely and Australia face a threat from the likes of the West Indies, who are just six points behind them in 9th position. Sri Lanka are on 229 points in the 10th position and will join Australia in their group if they top their qualifying group.

**ICC T20I Rankings**
Pos	Team	Matches	Points	Rating
1	England	28	7786	278
2	India	28	7456	266
3	Pakistan	34	8883	261
4	New Zealand	28	7192	257
5	South Africa	30	7489	250
6	Australia	33	7923	240
7	Bangladesh	27	6410	237
8	Afghanistan	12	2826	236
9	West Indies	29	6792	234
10	Sri Lanka	22	5048	229

T20 World Cup 2022: Australia will need to do well against these teams and it will be tough in the conditions of the UAE as it will suit the likes of Sri Lanka than the Aussies. The winners and the runners-up of the 2021 T20 World Cup will qualify for the super 12 stage with the next six highest-ranked teams and this is where Australia are in danger of not qualifying.

T20 World Cup 2022: Australia in danger of missing out on direct qualification to Super 12 in WC 2022 at home – Check why

November 15 is the cut-off date for the qualification and it means that Australia will need to make every game count. It doesn’t g3et easier as the Aussies have reigning 50-over champions England, West Indies and South Africa in their group.

If Australia fail to qualify for the Super 12 stage next year, not only will it be embarrassing from a cricket point of view but it will also affect them financially. It will take a hit on the ticket sales and scheduling as it won’t be certain when Australia would play until the qualifying stage ends.

T20 World Cup 2022: What does Australia need to do?

Australia will need to reach T20 WC 2021 semifinals to secure a place in ICC Rankings’ Top 4 and get a direct qualification spot in Super 12.
Australia need to win against West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan to improve rankings.
Australia are currently ranked 7th in the rankings and winning matches against top teams will help them earn more points and climb up the rankings.
They need consistent performance and T20 World Cup 2021 will be crucial

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Defeats to New Zealand, Bangladesh and West Indies is what has brought Australia in this position. However, one can argue that it was their second-string side that couldn’t counter the difficult conditions.

Australia are back to their full strength with the likes of Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis back in their side. Fast bowler Mitchell Starc is really optimistic about Australia’s chances and believes they have what it takes to win their maiden T20 World Cup.

T20 World Cup 2022: Australia in danger of missing out on direct qualification to Super 12 in WC 2022 at home – Check why

“I mean, it’s a huge positive we’ve got our full-strength team here available to us for the World Cup. Obviously, we didn’t have that through the West Indies and Bangladesh, we had some really inexperienced players, and some young guys playing some of their first games of cricket for Australia, coming to some really foreign conditions and thrown in the deep end really quickly, so not our best tour,” Starc told Sydney Morning Herald.

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“But now we’ve got our full-strength team available … it’s up to us now. We’ve set out to win the World Cup, we don’t want anything less than that and obviously that will be shown through the next couple of weeks of cricket,” he added.

Australia begin their 2021 T20 World Cup campaign against South Africa on Saturday.

Cricket