The International Cricket Council announced on Thursday, April 26, 2018, that it will grant T20I status to all of its 104 members for both men’s and women’s teams. The CEO of ICC David Richardson confirmed the news in a recent press conference in Kolkata.

He also added that a global ranking system will be launched for the T20I format. Currently, there are 18 members with T20I status that includes the 12 full-members, Scotland, Netherlands, Hong Kong, UAE, Oman and Nepal.

"All Women's team matches will be awarded T20 International status on July 1st 2018. All the men's team matches will be given T20 International status on January 1st 2019," Richardson said.

There were more revelations, too, as following the Test series between South Africa and Australia – that was shrouded with controversy all throughout – Richardson assured that stricter punishments will be laid out over issues like sledging and ball-tampering.

"Stricter and heavier transactions for ball tampering and using abusive language, sledging, dissent. We want penalties in place. Fines are not proving to be the answer. The cricket committee will come back with plans," Richardson said.

There were also talks about dissolving the Champions Trophy after its last edition in 2017. Richardson, however, stated that the 2021 version of the tournament could most likely be a World T20 event.

"In all likelihood the 2021 Champions Trophy will be a World T20."

With the wildfire-like spread of franchise cricket, many are suggesting for it to be allotted a separate window where the international fixtures will cease to exist, allowing for much-required breaks for a player and also the conservation of international cricket as well.

Regarding the issue, Richardson said: "There are occasions where they [T20 leagues] are competing with international bilateral series. We need to look at our regulations to see how we can allow that to happen."

There is also a pressing concern for ICC in the form of the tensions between BCCI and PCB, who are not a part of the FTP (Future Tours Program). Apropos to it, Richardson stated that India-Pakistan playing each other in bilateral series isn’t only up to the two boards agreeing to it.