To understand the strange case of cricket’s shrinking World Cup, consider one simple truth. The decision to cut the World Cup to 10 teams stems not from emerging nations losing too much, but from them winning when they were not supposed to.

On 17 March 2007, Ireland toppled Pakistan in Jamaica. On the same day, Bangladesh beat India in Trinidad & Tobago. Both Pakistan and India were knocked out in the first round of the World Cup. In Barbados a month later, the match advertised as India-Pakistan instead became Ireland against Bangladesh.

“Had that not happened, the 16-team World Cup would have become the norm,” one ICC insider later said. The Associates were punished for their own success. And so, when the World Cup qualifiers begin in Zimbabwe on Sunday, there are only two berths available.

Football is expanding its World Cup from 32 teams to 48. The next Basketball World Cup is 32 teams. Rugby union has 20 teams in its World Cup; rugby league and baseball have 16. Even kabbadi’s World Cup includes 12 countries. Yet the ICC, whose stated vision is to become ‘the world’s favourite sport’, have repeatedly cut the World Cup – from 16 sides in 2007, to 14 in 2011 and 2015 and then 10 in the 2019 tournament in England.