Team India out of T20 World Cup?- The Sportsrush presents the possible scenarios wherein Team India can still make it through to the semis
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The Super 12, Group 2 match of the ongoing T20 World Cup match between India and New Zealand in Dubai ended as yet another lopsided game with Team India ending up on the losing side this time around with a heavy defeat by 8 wickets, thus maintaining the winless record against the Kiwis in the T20 World Cup matches. This is India’s third loss in as many matches versus the Black Caps in T20 World Cups.
The Indian innings just could not get going with the pace they would have liked in a T20 game, courtesy the slow nature of the Dubai pitch and wickets tumbling down at regular intervals. Kiwi leg spinner Ish Sodhi also admitted the fact that the wicket was indeed slower than the Australia-England match that was played yesterday at the same surface, and that bowling slow was the key for success. He finished with figures of 4-0-17-2, picking up the prized wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Is India Out of T20 World Cup?
Today’s match was touted as a virtual quarterfinal between the two sides after both teams suffered heavy defeats against Pakistan in their opening matches. This of course goes with the assumption that both the aforementioned teams would end up on the winning side against Scotland, Namibia, and perhaps Afghanistan as well.
Afghanistan- The team India might be forced to cheer
With the aggressive brand of Cricket Afghanistan have played so far, one should write them off at one’s own peril. In a tournament, where teams are opting to field first upon winning the Toss, the Afghans have chosen to bat first twice already despite conventional wisdom suggesting otherwise. This is not a statement commenting on the absurdity of their strategy, but rather on their positive approach taking into consideration their strengths and weaknesses coupled with their self-belief. Earlier in the day, the Afghans handed a heavy drubbing to Namibia by as many as 62 runs after opting to bat first and have done themselves a huge favour with a run rate of +3.097- highest in Group 2.
Thus, for India to qualify, they would hope against hope that Afghanistan somehow win against New Zealand and they themselves win first against them before that on November 3- the date for their next match.
So, all in all India need to- 1) Win their remaining 3 matches versus Afghanistan, Scotland, and Namibia and 2) Hope Afghanistan beat New Zealand and end up with a run rate worse than India.
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