T20 World Cup: Here is how Team India can still qualify for the semifinals

Table of Contents

Scenario 1
Scenario 2

Team India were considered as ‘favourites’ for the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 before of the start of Super 12 stage fixtures. Many experts had opined that the Indian team is filled with superstars and would dominate the competition.

A lot of players were involved in the second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, and hence they had the experience of playing in the Gulf nation and humid conditions. But India made an embarrassing start as they lost both their opening games in the multi-team tournament.

India first met Pakistan on October 24 and got beaten by 10 wickets. In their second fixture, New Zealand dominated the ‘Men in Blue’ and handed them an 8-wicket defeat on October 31.

The back-to-back losses impacted a huge blow to India’s expectations of qualification for the semi-finals, but it’s not all over yet. A few results from Group 2 can turn things around in India’s favour.

Let’s have a look at a couple of scenarios that will pave the way for Virat Kohli and Co. to book a place in the knockout stage.

Scenario 1:

India to win their remaining fixtures against Afghanistan, Namibia and Scotland and end up with 6 points in the team standings of Group 2.
Pakistan win their remaining games against Scotland and Namibia and finish with 10 points.
New Zealand defeat Afghanistan but face a loss against Namibia and Scotland to end with only 4 points.
Afghanistan loses against both India and New Zealand to stay at 4 points.
Namibia and Scotland beat New Zealand in Group 2 but face defeat in their other fixtures and end with 4 and 2 points, respectively.

Scenario 2:

Pakistan remain undefeated in Group 2 and end with 10 points.
Afghanistan defeat New Zealand but lose to India to end with 6 points.
New Zealand beat Namibia and Scotland but lose against Afghanistan to stay at 6 points in Group 2.
India win their all remaining matches and finish the Super 12 stage with a better net run rate (NRR) than Afghanistan and New Zealand.
Namibia finish Group 2 with two points and Scotland with 0 points.