The Indian fans are absolutely distraught with the fact that India has lost two back to back games in the ongoing T20 World Cup and their tournament seems all but done as far as a qualification to the semi-final round is concerned. But, there is a slight chance still left. It’s incredibly difficult, but it’s there. However, it depends on various scenarios.
If the relative strengths and weaknesses of all the teams in group 2 are taken into account, then Scotland and Namibia at the moment seem to be slightly behind the other 4 teams in the group. So, India’s chances now massively depend on the result of the New Zealand Vs Afghanistan game.
India would ideally first want to beat Afghanistan by a big margin on Wednesday and then would hope that Afghanistan beats New Zealand in their next game, but they won’t want Afghanistan to beat NZ by a big margin because that will then enhance Afghanistan’s NRR further, which India wouldn’t want.
India will have to beat Scotland and Namibia in a similar manner as Afghanistan has beaten them
If these two results go the way India want them to go, the men in blue will then want to beat Scotland and Namibia by huge margins again and will try and make sure they surpass Afghanistan’s net run rate (NRR) which seems humongous at the moment.
But, one thing which is noticeable is that Afghanistan has increased their NRR massively by beating Scotland and Namibia only, so there is no reason why India can’t do that against the same opponents.
But, India will have to first beat Afghanistan and then will have to hope for an Afghanistan victory over New Zealand. Only then, the NRR can come into the equation and India can have any hope of reaching the semifinals.
India, unlike the last game, doesn’t have to wait for their next game for too long as they are playing Afghanistan only after a gap of a couple of days and that’s something they will prefer at this point of time as too long a break after defeats never really help.
