The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday confirmed that Afghanistan has qualified directly for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 based on the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings as on 31 December 2018.

The T20 World Cup will be held in Australia from October 18 to November 15.

As per the qualification criteria set for the tournament, team Afghanistan and other nine top-ranked sides have ensured direct qualification.

The top eight make it straight to the Super 12s stage while the remaining two will play in the group stage along with six other teams who will make it through from the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier in 2019. 

Meanwhile, four teams from the group stage will advance to the Super 12s.

Of the top 10 sides on the rankings table, top-ranked Afghanistan, India, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, the Windies and Pakistan will start their campaign directly in the Super 12s.

In 2018, Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh One-Day International and T20 series and got the eighth position in the ICC ranking. Meanwhile, Afghanistan National Cricket Team succeeded to keep their place in the ICC ranking.