KATHMANDU: Nepal will skip the regional Asian qualifiers and advance directly to the Global Qualifiers for the 2028 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

This direct entry comes as a major boost for Nepali cricket following a qualification format change by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Under the new rules decided at the ICC’s annual conference in Scotland, teams that competed in the 2026 T20 World Cup but missed out on automatic qualification for the 2028 edition will be granted a direct slot in the Global Qualifiers.

Nepal, which bowed out in the group stage of the 2026 tournament, benefits directly from this policy.

Instead of navigating the regional qualifiers, Nepal will now prepare for the 16-team Global Qualifiers, which will consist of eight teams from the previous World Cup and eight emerging from regional pathways.

The ICC also announced that it has expanded direct qualification for the main tournament from the “Super 8” to the “Super 10” teams.