Nepal are the toast of Emerging nations at the moment, after their commendable achievement (rather surprising and miraculous, in many ways) in ICC WCL Division 2 in Namibia, which saw them qualify in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers along with UAE.
Nepal, among the six Emerging countries in the World Cup Qualifiers, along with Netherlands are the two teams which enter the competition without ODI status from the last World Cup Qualifiers. Nepal, though, have not had the luxury of ODI status ever. Netherlands have had the status, which they lost in the previous WCQ event, and now following their exploits in ICC WCL Championship, will get back the status and the #13 spot in ICC ODI League from 2020-2022.
The ODI status will do a world of good for Nepali Cricket, as they will stand to get more ICC funds to develop the 50-overs/Multi-day cricket structure in the domestic competitions in the country. With ICC doing its best to get Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) reinstated when they meet in the Annual General Meeting in Jun 2018, any kind of setback in the meeting will make it interesting as to how the status and matches will be governed by them in the absence of a Cricket Board.
ICC have already announced that the 3 top-finishing Emerging countries in the World Cup Qualifiers will be awarded ODI status until 2022. Nepal, Hong Kong & Scotland are placed in Group B, while UAE & Papua New Guinea are placed in Group A. With Netherlands guaranteed their ODI status already, wont be in the running for it.
For the five remaining teams, it will be a tussle as qualification from the group stage into the Super Sixes will almost guarantee an ODI status spot, unless in an unlikely event that all five qualify for the Super Sixes. Teams not making it into the Super Sixes will battle in play-off matches to determine #7 – #10 in the standings for the tournament.
For all the teams, it will be a matter of securing minimum 3 victories in their 4 group matches to stand a great chance of making it into the Super Sixes. In an event, if that is not possible, the next best finish would be to secure minimum of 2 wins to stay in the mix to finish in the top 3 in the group. Any results less than that, and it will effectively mean playing in the play-off’s. If more Emerging nations manage to qualify for Super Sixes, then the play-off’s wont provide much opportunities to secure the status.
