India and South Africa are playing in the first ODI of the three-match series today. But this ODI has set a different kind of ‘record’. It has been a couple of years since the ICC launched the ODI Super League as a qualifier for the ODI World Cup, but the match between India and South Africa is not part of that Super League. The ICC, the governing body of cricket, has also explained why.
Indian cricket statistician Kaustav Guripati said on Twitter that this is the first series between South Africa and India since the ICC Super League was launched in July 2020, with two teams playing in the Super League, but the series is not part of the Super League.
According to the ICC, not every series held before the 2023 ODI World Cup is part of the Super League. Only pre-determined series will be considered part of the Super League.
13 teams are playing in the Super League organized on the occasion of the 2023 ODI World Cup. It is not the case that each team will play a series with the other 12 teams in the league. According to ICC rules, any team can play a series with 7 out of 13 teams. The number of matches in the series is also fixed at 63.
Sometimes (two teams) play four or five matches in a series, but only three of those pre-determined matches will be counted in the Super League points list ‘- the ICC explained.
Which team will play the series against another team as part of the Super League has been decided in advance. The ICC said the series between India and South Africa was not part of that plan.
There are also several bilateral series that are not part of the Super League, as the world cricket governing body calculates the Future Tour list (FTP) over an eight-year cycle.
The ICC has also given a detailed explanation of the structure of the Super League. “Each team (out of 13 teams in the league) will play three ODIs against six teams,” the Indian cricket website quoted the ICC as saying. Four of these series
That team will be on their soil, on the soil of four opponents. That means one team (as part of the Super League) will play 24 matches. ‘
10 points are added for each win in the Super League points list. The losing team will not get any points. If the match is tied, abandoned or if no result is seen then the two teams will share 5 points for that match. There is also a provision for deducting points (penalty over) for failing to complete the over within the stipulated time. So far Sri Lanka (3 points), India (1), and South Africa (1) have lost points under this rule.
India has already played nine matches as part of the Super League. Played on Australian soil in November 2020, played on Sri Lankan soil in July 2021. Apart from this, they have played three matches on their soil against England.
The funny thing here is that this series between India and South Africa is not part of the Super League, but the India-South Africa series that could have been part of the Super League, could not have happened because of Corona in March last year. That series will be next year.
Outside of that South Africa-India series, India has three more series in the Super League home against Afghanistan, and two at Zimbabwe and New Zealand.