Thanks to a now questionable pre-tournament seeding system put in place by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for this year’s Men’s T20 World Cup, the West Indies’ quest to become the first hosting nation to win the championship received a huge boost as based on this new system, they have been placed in a very manageable Group 2 for the Super Eight phase of the tournament, which bowls off on Wednesday (June 19).
Thanks to the early and unpredictable departure of the pre-tournament No 1 seed New Zealand from Group C, the No 2-seeded Windies were elevated to the top spot in the group, and hence rewarded with an easier path to the semifinal than they could have hoped for in their wildest dreams.
The Caribbean lads now face what should be a relatively simple task of getting past the shock Super Eight entrant, the USA, who emerged as stunning qualifiers from Group A instead of 2022 finalist Pakistan who was eliminated in Group play; Group D winner South Africa and, the likely second-placed team from Group A—England, even though at the time of writing the rain had delayed their crucial game against Namibia and should there be no play, the solitary point they would gain would not be enough to keep them participants and it would be the underdogs Scotland who would advance in what would be another huge advantage to the WI semifinals chances.
With just two wins required to advance, the Windies will open their Super Eight campaign on Wednesday at Gros Islet in St Lucia against England in what should be their only real test in this segment, as getting past the upstart USA at one of their favourite hunting grounds, Kensington Oval in Barbados should be a breeze, as should dispatching South Africa, who despite topping their group, have struggled badly —especially with the bat—and really should be easy pickings if the WI play anywhere near their potential.
Juggernauts and pre-tournament overall No 1 seeds, India, are grouped with the No 2 seeds Australia along with a plucky Afghanistan team that cannot be underestimated or written off, as they have already shown they are more than capable of holding their own with the big boys and have their eyes fixed firmly on reaching their first ever global semifinal, with Bangladesh, runners-up in Group D completing Group one.
While the ultimate group-placing no doubt works to the advantage of the WI, over the past few days several conspiracy theories have emerged with most concluding that the schedule has been somehow rigged to ensure that pre-tournament No 1 seed and favourites, India, make it to the final.
Despite the ICC announcing the format for the tournament, the schedule of the matches and even the venues and times of the games months ago, perhaps fans and journalists were not paying full attention, especially as the fixtures had a clear and easy-to-follow format, with the winner of Group C (WI) set to play the winner of Group A (India) on the format.
But suddenly and with several matches still to be played, reports started to appear slotting teams into the two Super Eight groups, with WI through as the No 1 seed in Group 2 although they could finish second in their group if they lose to Afghanistan tomorrow night.
This is where it gets tricky as the tournament rules had previously determined that the Super Eight allocations would be determined by the seeding each team held before the competition started.
NZ was the No 1 seed in Group C, but its exit elevated the WI to No 1, so even a loss to the Afghanis would not displace them topping the group, even though they could finish with six points to their eight.
While this explains the Super Eight seedings, the same cannot be said for the semifinals which suddenly seem to have nefarious motives, as unless something out of the most extraordinary nature occurs, India is not only guaranteed to play their match in Guyana but can also get what can be considered a “bye” into the final itself and possibly without bowling a single ball.
This is due to a strange clause in the playing rules governing the semifinals which sets in place a reserve “rain day” for the first on June 26 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in T&T, but none in place for the second in Guyana on June 27!
The argument put forward by the ICC is that there would just not be enough time to have a reserve day, as the grand final is scheduled for Barbados on June 29 making it logistically impossible to play on the 28 and while this makes sense from a practical perspective, the question is: Why given months even years to plan, couldn’t the schedule makers have brought forward at least the first match day and thereby leave time for the desirable and fair “rain reserve day” for the second semifinal as well.
To add injury to insult and to strengthen the conspiracy theory, is the fact that the fixtures have been manoeuvred from the very start to ensure that the Indians play in Guyana, despite their performance in the Super Eights!
The ruling from the ICC on the Super Eights and semifinals reads as follows:
“There are no points or net run-rate advantage carried forward from the first round into the Super Eight stage, where all teams will start on a level footing. The top two teams from each Super Eight group will qualify for the semifinals.”
The first semifinal is in Trinidad on June 26, and the second semifinal is in Guyana on June 27. If India makes it to the semifinals, they will play in Guyana. The final of the T20 World Cup is scheduled for June 29, in Barbados.
It is the predetermined line—if India makes it to the semifinals they will play in Guyana, that raises questions as while the Indian team is formidable and can easily top Group 1, Australia are playing superb cricket and can also emerge group winners, while as mentioned earlier, Afghanistan are no pushovers and are more than capable of upsetting either of their two much more illustrious competitors.
What that line is effectively saying is that despite perhaps losing one of their three matches and perhaps finishing second in their group, India would still be placed in the Guyana semifinal! This would then put them in line to perhaps gain a direct path to the final as the ICC rules also state that should this semifinal not be played because of the weather, the No 1-ranked team—India, would advance!
Checks on several websites as to why the ICC, which traditionally allows a reserve day at the semifinals stage, would pre-determined that India plays in Guyana on reaching the semifinals were inconclusive as was a search for the logic behind not having a reserve day. Most arguments referred to the playing time of the match, 10.30 am Caribbean time, which would be 8 pm and prime time in India for its 1.5 billion television viewers.
This argument is lost however, due to the fact that time is more manoeuvrable than a country and provisions could have easily been made to switch the Trinidad semifinal to 10.30 am to accommodate the television right holders and see them optimise their advertising earnings. While not ideal, most would see this change as more acceptable and fair.
It would be ironic—though highly unlikely—if at the end of it all India did not make it out of the Super Eights. Even with an outstanding match against the WI tomorrow night, the Afghani players rank at the top of all major statistical categories with Rahmanullah Gurbaz topping the batting with 167 runs and an average of 55.6, with his opening partner Ibrahim Zadran fourth with 114 runs; while Fazalhaq Farooqi is the competition’s leading bowlers with 12 wickets in just three matches with a miserly average of 3.7. Afghanistan “upsetting’ either Australia or India is perhaps more possible than one may like to think.
Let’s just hope that rain stays away for the remainder of the tournament and especially for the semifinal in Guyana as one can only imagine the controversy that would emerge should rain prevent a result in this game and India advance to win their third T20 World Cup.
