Former England captain Michael Vaughan accused ICC of favoring India and being unfair to other teams in the T20 World Cup. Vaughan said the first semi-final at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba should have been between the Super Eight Group 1 winners (India) and the Group 2 runners-up (England), but instead went between South Africa, Group 2 winner and Group 1 runner-up Afghanistan.
It was decided that India would play the second semi-final in Guyana irrespective of their position in the Super Eights. The ICC did not provide any official reason for this, but it seems that it was done for the benefit of the viewers in India. The first semi-final, a night encounter, was supposed to start at 6 am IST (June 27), which is not the ideal time for the viewers in India. The second semi-final – a day match – was scheduled for 8 pm IST on the same day, a much more convenient time for the viewers in India.
Moreover, all of India’s matches in this World Cup have been day matches, i.e. at 8 p.m. in New Delhi for the same reason, while most other teams have played matches under the lights.
This created an unusual situation of different playing conditions for the two semi-finals. The first semi-final between Afghanistan and South Africa had a spare day, but none were planned for India vs England. India, due to their better finish in the Super Eights, will qualify for the final if no match is possible due to bad weather in Guyana.
“This semi should have been Guyana’s… but with the whole event being geared towards India it’s so unfair to the others… #T20IWorldCup,” Vaughan wrote on X.
The former England striker’s post came after Afghanistan were knocked out for 56 – the lowest score in a T20 World Cup semi-final – in 11.5 overs by South Africa.
Notably, Vaughan is not the first former cricketer to raise the issue of the T20 World Cup schedule. Former English batter David Lloyd also targeted the ICC for favoring India.
South African Sangling pacer Marco Jansen and left-hand spinner Tabraiz Shamsi claimed three wickets each while fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje kept up the relentless pressure with two wickets each.
Only Azmatullah Omarzai (10) reached double figures for the Afghans, while 13 extras contributed the most to the meager total.
The batting collapse marked a completely deflating effort for Afghanistan after Monday’s thrilling drama when they beat Bangladesh in St. Vincent’s to reach the last four.
Throughout this dream run to their first semi-final of a senior men’s world tournament, Afghanistan relied on openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to give them a strong platform and at the same time mask the weaknesses of the rest of the batting line. up.
But when Jansen had Gurbaz bowled out by Reeza Hendricks in the first over of the match, the worst fears of the Afghans and their growing mass of supporters in the Caribbean were realized as the Proteas ruthlessly exploited their opponents’ technical deficiencies.