The Indian cricket team was the “favorites” before the T20 World Cup 2021 began. Everyone believed that men in blue can thrash all and move forward to clinch the T20 World Cup 2021. Unfortunately, the Indian team is now relying on the opponents for their qualifications.
Read also: Most wins in T20I as captain
India faced a humiliating and disappointing loss against their biggest rival Pakistan in the opening match. In the second match against New Zealand, they could not register a victory. Both these losses in the initial 2 matches proved to be very unfavorable for the team. In the 3rd and 4th matches against Afghanistan and Scotland, India won and increased their Net Run Rate to secure the 3rd position in the table.
Conditions for team India to qualify:
With 2 wins in 4 matches the team now has 4 points and the highest Net Run Rate, +1.619. The qualification of the Indian team in the semifinals is quite uncertain at the moment. The team needs to rely on the other teams and also themselves to qualify. With Pakistan qualifying for the semi-finals, New Zealand has a higher chance of being the second team to compete against Pakistan in the semifinals. On Sunday Afghanistan will be locking horns with New Zealand. Afghanistan surely needs to beat New Zealand to not only increase their but also India’s chances of getting qualified in the semi-finals.
After India’s massive victory against Scotland yesterday, Afghanistan’s qualifying chances have decreased. Even if Afghanistan manages to win against New Zealand by a margin of about 30 runs, India will still stay ahead on NRR.
New Zealand has 6 points in 4 matches and for them, the net run rate is not a concern. New Zealand is a strong team as compared to Afghanistan. Sadly, they will play in 3 different venues in 5 days. On the other hand, Afghanistan has already played the last two matches in Abu Dhabi and therefore they have a quick experience of how the pitch and the ground can be.
