ICC T20 World Cup 2021: Can India Qualify for Semi-Finals? Here are the Qualification Scenarios

The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 is about to reach its business end. So far only Pakistan has officially qualified for the semi-finals. But there’s no certainty about who’ll be the other three teams to qualify for the semi-final stage of the marquee tournament. While Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Scotland and Namibia are out of the tournament, other cricketing heavyweights including Team India are also fighting for the place in the semi-finals. Though many teams will be depending on the other results, it remains to be seen which will be the other three teams along Pakistan to qualify for the semi-finals.

Scenario for Team India to qualify for the semi-finals 

The Virat Kohli-led side didn’t have the greatest of starts to their ICC T20 World Cup 2021 campaign as they were pounded by Pakistan and New Zealand in their first two matches, which dented their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals.

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However, after a win of 66-run against Afghanistan, Team India are somehow still alive in the tournament as their Net Run Rate boosted from negative (-1.609) to positive territory (+0.073).

Team India are next slated to play against Scotland and Namibia and they must beat both the opponents by healthy margins to keep their hopes alive for the semi finals.

For Team India to stand a chance, If New Zealand beats Afghanistan by small margin and Namibia pulls off victory against the Kiwis, then the Kane Williamson-led side will be levelled with Team India on six points and then NRR will come into play.

In another scenario, If New Zealand beats Namibia and looses to Afghanistan, then Team India along with the Kiwis and the Mohammad Nabi-led side will have six points and by the virtue of high NRR, the second team from the Group 2 for the semi finals will be decided.

Here’s the points table along with NRR of Group 2:

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ICC T20 World Cup 2021: India beats Afghanistan by 66 runs to be in the hunt for semi-finals 

After being bogged down in the first two matches of the T20 World Cup, Team India staged a dominant comeback and thumped Afghanistan by 66 runs to keep their hopes alive for the semi-finals. Batting first, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Kl Rahul came out all guns blazing and scored 140 runs for the opening partnership to give their team a much-needed start.

After both the openers perished, the duo of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya smashed bowlers all around the ground and helped their team post a mammoth total of 210 runs on the board. Defending the target, Indian bowlers chipped in and restricted the Mohammad Nabi-led side to 144 runs to register their first win of the tournament.

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