World Cup Groups

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The 2007 Cricket World Cup has fielded the largest number of teams ever in the history of the tournament. When the World Cup was first held in 1975, only eight teams took part. Of them, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe were non-Test playing nations. This time there are 16 teams in the fray. Five teams, Scotland, The Netherlands, Ireland, Canada and Bermuda, do not have official status as Test or one-day sides. Of the 11 other teams, Kenya is a non-Test playing nation.

The format for this edition of the World Cup is completely different. This time there are four groups, each comprising of four teams. Group A consists of defending champions Australia, South Africa, Scotland and The Netherlands. Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Bermuda comprises Group B while Group C consists of New Zealand, England, Kenya and Canada. Pakistan, the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland are together in Group D.

From the group stage, eight teams will advance to the next round. They will play against each other in this Super Eight Series. The top four teams will make it to the semi-finals. Due to this new format, the tournament will be held over seven weeks. Also, it would be a good experience for the newly-qualifying teams as they will get an opportunity to play against some of the top teams and players in the world.