The ICC had announced the schedule of the 2027 World Cup on October 1. (Reuters Photo)The International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday that it has received over Over 1.5 crore ticket applications from 142 countries in the 12 days that its ticket ballot for the 2027 World Cup went live. The tournament will be played from October 2 to November 21 next year and will be hosted in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The ICC had announced the schedule of the tournament on October 1.“A total of 15,083,752 ticket applications have been received since with 4,423,417 ballot registrations generated by fans from across 142 countries, highlighting the immense global interest in the 14th edition of the Men’s Cricket World Cup,” said cricket’s global governing body in a statement on Tuesday.How the 2027 World Cup ticket ballot worksThe ballot will be open for registration till 23 hours 59 minutes CAT on November 21, 2026, the ICC said, which translates to 3am IST on November 22, 2026. Fans can submit one ballot entry per person, per match, and may enter the ballot for multiple matches across the tournament.“Where demand for a fixture exceeds the available ticket allocation, access to purchase tickets will be determined through a randomised ballot process. Successful applicants will be contacted by email with information on how to access the ticket purchasing process,” said the ICC.New Format for the 2027 World CupThe World Cup next year will mark the debut of a new three-stage format. The tournament will begin with a new “Super Series” involving the teams ranked 12th, 13th and 14th in qualification. These three teams will compete in a round-robin format, with only the winner advancing to the next stage.The successful team will then join the remaining 11 qualified nations in the second phase, where two groups of six teams will contest 30 matches. The top three teams from each group, along with the next highest-placed team across both groups, will qualify for the newly introduced Super 7 stage.Australia are the defending champions, having won their sixth title in the 2023 edition that was hosted by India. They flattened the hosts India in the final, winning it by six wickets in what was then deemed a stunning result considering Australia’s rocky start to the tournament and the hosts being utterly dominant right until the final in Ahmedabad.Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.Tags:ICC World Cup