Dubai: The automatic qualifiers for the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 on Saturday were confirmed, following West Indies' loss to Australia in their final match of this year's edition of the mega event.
From the 12 automatic qualifiers for next year's tournament -- the 12 teams that made the Super 12 this year -- eight will go straight through to the 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," the ICC said.
"On Saturday, the teams that will fill those spots were confirmed courtesy of West Indies' loss to Australia, which means they will sit 10th by the cut-off date, with Bangladesh climbing to eighth," it added.
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 in this tournament.
Afghanistan, the team sitting seventh, cannot drop below the 8th spot irrespective of future results in this tournament following West Indies' loss to Australia. That loss has seen West Indies drop to 10th on the rankings, just behind Sri Lanka, with Bangladesh rising to eighth.
Alongside West Indies, 2021 Super 12 teams Sri Lanka, Namibia, and Scotland will also start next year's tournament in the First Round.