The ODI World Cup, left, and T20 World Cup formats have changed. Getty ImagesInfoGoverning body introduces Super 7 stage and eliminators in major overhaulThe International Cricket Council has announced major changes to the formats of the next two major world tournaments, adding more matches and layers after the opening round.The 2027 ODI World Cup takes place in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia while the 2028 T20 World Cup will be held in Australia and New Zealand.The rules for both tournaments have been changed by the ICC.Format for 2027 ODI World CupThe 2023 50-over tournament had a simple format – 10 teams played each other in a mega group phase. The top four teams at the end of it qualified for the semi-finals.However the next ODI World Cup will be completely different. Firstly, there will be 14 teams in the competition with multiple stages. The three lowest ranked teams will first play in a round-robin. The winners will progress to the next round.The remaining 12 teams will move into two groups of six, where they will play each other. This is effectively the main ODI World Cup, involving 12 teams. The top three teams from each group, along with the next best-placed team across both groups move to the Super 7 stage.In the 'Super 7' stage, the teams all play each other, with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals.Verdict: With ODIs losing popularity, changes were expected to be made to the World Cup format. The changes were along expected lines as they look to capitalise on the main money-making property of world cricket – an India v Pakistan match.The South Asian rivals face each other only at major world events due to continuing political tensions. Therefore, the financial health of every World Cup inevitably revolves around this match. So the format has been changed to make sure India and Pakistan face each other at least twice in the tournament, and possibly three times if they advance to the semis.Also, associate nations have been placated by repacking the tournament into a 14-team affair, even though the main event starts with 12 sides.▶Format for 2028 T20 World CupThe T20 World Cup format already had multiple stages, but it has been tweaked a bit. Twenty teams will take part in 2028 edition, the same as last time. But the structure has been changed.The 20 teams will be divided into five groups of four, instead of four groups of five used in 2026. The top two teams from each group will move to the 'Super 10' stage.The 'Super 10' round will have two groups of five teams, who will play a round-robin format. The winners of each Super 10 group will qualify directly for the semi-finals.The remaining two semi-final spots will be decided via an 'eliminator' round. There, the second-placed teams from each Super 10 group will face the third-placed teams from the opposite group. The winners of the 'eliminators' will make it to the semi-finals.Verdict: The T20 World Cup format was already comprehensive. However, the introduction of the 'eliminator' has the imprint of franchise cricket, and is an indirect way of bringing back the quarter-finals stage. The more logical step would have been to have 'eliminators' in a 10-team ODI World Cup where the best-performing teams in the group stage have one additional chance of qualifying for the final. However, they will be used in the T20 World Cup and that means more knockout contests, higher stakes and more chances for lower-ranked teams to make it further into the tournament. Updated: July 17, 2026, 4:30 AM