By IANS
Kuala Lumpur : The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Chief Executive Committee (CEC) Wednesday recommended a 14-team format for the 2011 Cricket World Cup to be jointly organised by India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The CEC worked out the new format, to be suggested to the ICC Board next month, in its two-day meeting that concluded here Wednesday.
The suggested new format involves two groups of seven teams with the top four from each group progressing to the knockout phase that includes quarterfinals, semi-finals and a final.
The new format, if approved by the ICC Board, would also shorten the duration of the mega event to 38 from last edition’s 49 days.
The organisers of the Caribbean World Cup and the ICC came in for sharp criticism from all quarters for quite a few meaningless games at the preliminary stages. The game’s governing body has decided to curtail the duration of the next World Cup drastically.