The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 2023-27 will start in Kathmandu, Nepal on February 15.
Organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the ICC CWC League 2 2023-27 is the second edition of ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, a 50-over cricket tournament which forms part of the ICC World Cup 2027 qualification process.
Since the inaugural ICC CWC League 2 2019-23 edition, the number of teams have been increased from seven to eight for the upcoming edition.
As per the ICC CWC League 2 2023-27 format, these eight teams will compete in 24 tri-series of six matches each and a total of 144 ODIs.
Hosts Nepal, Namibia and the Netherlands will feature in the first of the 24 tri-series.
All matches of the upcoming tri-series will be played at the Mulpani Cricket Ground in Kathmandu.
Apart from Nepal, Namibia and the Netherlands, Canada, Oman, Scotland, United Arab Emirates and United States will participate in the ICC CWC League 2 2023-27.
In the inaugural edition, the promotion of the League 2 champion to the Super League was allowed in the previous World Cup qualification cycle.
This promotion was abolished for the second edition which meant that the previous League 2 champions, Scotland, remained in this tournament. Netherlands were also added after they played in the Super League.
The remaining top five finishers from the previous League 2 and two teams from the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off joined Scotland and the Netherlands.
Canada were promoted after the playoff while Papua New Guinea were relegated to the Challenge League.
Meanwhile, the top four teams in ICC CWC League 2 2023-27 will directly qualify for ICC World Cup 2027 while the four bottom-placed teams will take part in the ICC World Cup Qualifier Play-off, effectively a repechage tournament also including the top four teams from the ICC World Cup Challenge League, the third tier of international 50-over cricket.
Where to watch ICC CWC League 2 2023-27 live in India
Live streaming of ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 2023-27 will be available on the FanCode app and website.
There will be no live telecast of the upcoming 50-over cricket tournament on any TV channel in India.
ICC CWC League 2 2023-27 schedule and match start times
All timings are in India Standard Time (IST)
Thursday, February 15
Nepal vs Namibia - 9:00 AM
Saturday, February 17
Netherlands vs Nepal - 9:00 AM
Monday, February 19
Namibia vs Netherlands - 9:00 AM
Wednesday, February 21
Nepal vs Namibia - 9:00 AM
Friday, February 23
Netherlands vs Namibia - 9:00 AM
Sunday, February 25
Netherlands vs Nepal - 9:00 AM
ICC CWC League 2 2023-27 teams and squads
Namibia: Merwe Erasmus (captain), Michael Van Lingen, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Nikolaas Davin, Jean-Pierre Kotze (wicketkeeper), Lohan Louwrens (wicketkeeper), Zane Green (wicketkeeper), Malan Kruger, Jan Frylinck, Jonathan Smit, Shaun Fouche, Ben Shikongo, Bernard Scholtz, Jack Brassell, Ruben Trumpelmann, Tangeni Lungameni
Nepal: Rohit Paudel (captain), Aarif Sheikh, Bhim Sharki, Dev Khanal, Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wicketkeeper), Arjun Sawad (wicketkeeper), Anil Shah, Bibek Yadav, Dipendra Singh Airee, Karan KC, Kushal Malla, Pawan Sarraf, Rijan Dhakal, Gulsan Jha, Lalit Rajbanshi, Pratish GC, Sompal Kami, Surya Tamang
Netherlands: Scott Edwards (captain/wicketkeeper), Max O’Dowd, Noah Croes, Teja Nidamanuru, Wesley Barresi (wicketkeeper), Bas de Leede, Michael Levitt, Olivier Elenbaas, Roelof van der Merwe, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Vikramjit Singh, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein, Shariz Ahmad, Vivian Kingma
Photo credit: Alamy
