Posted by The ICC are calling this ‘the group stage’ of the World T20. Everyone else is correctly referring to it as the qualifiers.
Afghanistan have qualified.
Despite the best efforts of the organisers, someone had to.
Afghanistan did of course have the good fortune to be in Group B. It’s not that it’s an easier group; it’s that Group B matches are actually being played. The teams in that group are playing in Nagpur, where it isn’t raining. Group A matches are failing to take place in Dharamsala where it’s been slatting it down.
Due to the rain, there’s actually a very real possibility that Oman could play one match, win it, and fail to qualify. Someone at the ICC will doubtless be able to claim that they failed to take the opportunity presented to them. We’re not quite sure how they’ll do this, but we’re excited to find out.
The margins between the “qualifying” teams have generally been fairly slim – Afghanistan had a thumping win over Zimbabwe today, but Zim are a Full Member, Test-playing nation and it isn’t so long since they beat Australia in T20s.
I think they might as well have let all the teams at the World Cup play on an equal basis. It would have involved a restructure of the tournament, but I think there’d have been a good chance of some serious upsets.
(I have the horrible feeling that the ICC is in fact deliberately trying to avoid dramatic upsets. Predictable cups bring in more revenue. But when your sport has got to that kind of stage, it’s pretty much screwed.)
Of course they’re trying to avoid upsets. That’s the absolute driving force behind all of these shitty tournament formats.
Say it ain’t so, yer maj.
The romance of the cup an’ all that?
I think one-off upsets should be avoided and a super-league used to settle the issue
What kind of provocative voodoo did you engage in to call the rain to Nagpur, KC? Check any movements you make in case you’re inadvertantly doing a rain dance.
Highly unlikely we’d be doing any kind of dance. It’s one of the things we’re dead against, along with ‘joining in’.
Rain? It could be worse….
I welcome Afghanistan’s presence in the later (or if you prefer, initial) stages of the tournament for many reasons, not least the prospect of exuberant stumpings.
That’s fantastic.
I particularly admire the athleticism.
Makes you think, how good are these guys gonna be when modern training methods hit Kabul?
Shazad is rapidly moving up my favourite cricketers list