How can India still qualify for the T20 World Cup 2021 Semi-Finals?
T20 World Cup 2021: Team India endured a shameful eight-wicket defeat against New Zealand last night which pretty much ended India’s World Cup run. The Men in Blue have not played up to their standards in its first two matches of the World Cup.
The team that was regarded as the favourites to win the World Cup is now nowhere near the semi-final equation after suffering two defeats on the trot. Earlier, against Pakistan, India bowed down by 10 wickets while in the last match against New Zealand, the Men in Blue were beaten by eight wickets.
Although the toss played a major role in putting pressure on India, the rest of the outside pressure was exerted by the Kiwi bowlers who bowled tight lengths to not let the Indians go after them. Virat and Co just managed to put up 110 runs on the scoreboard after 20 overs which was chased down by New Zealand without any troubles.
With the win, New Zealand has improved its chances for the playoff and jumped to third place in the points table.
Pakistan is at the top and has nearly qualified for the semi-finals with three wins from three matches. Afghanistan has two wins in its three matches and thus are placed in second place with four points and a massive net run rate of +3.097.
The third place is occupied by New Zealand with two points from two matches and a run rate of +0.765. Namibia is at fourth with a win from its two matches while India and Scotland are at fifth and sixth respectively and are yet to register a win.
Though it seems impossible, India still has slight chances to qualify for the semis of the T20 World Cup 2021. It can be said that a lot of prayers and permutation and combination will be required to get into the semi-finals, but the chances are still alive.
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How can India still qualify for the T20 World Cup 2021 Semi-Finals?
Team India has lost two of its matches and the team needs to win three out of the remaining three games to continue in the race. Winning alone will not be enough as the net run rate of India has fallen and India needs other teams’ results to go towards India’s advantage.
Virat Kohli and his men will have to win its next match against Afghanistan with a huge margin to make a high bounce in its net run rate and get those two crucial points. The last two matches against Scotland and Namibia will have to go the same way as India will further look to improve the net run rate.
As said earlier, winning alone won’t put India into semis, the rest of the team will have to bring out results that favour India. If New Zealand losses two of its remaining three matches and Namibia also lose two of its matches, then India can easily sneak in for the semi-finals.
India will play against Afghanistan on Wednesday, 3rd November. The Men in Blue will then fight against Scotland on 5th November followed by a clash with Namibia on November 8.
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