An opaque ICC T20 World Cup, where ‘I’ stands for India

“I think there’s a big question to be asked about the pre-seeding. I’m not sure I’m a fan of that,” Australian pacer Mitchell Starc said after the win against Scotland.
He raised one of many important questions about the format and scheduling in place for the 2024 edition. Lack of transparency surrounding the draw, a schedule that gives India a fair few favours and a structure that actively discourages any surprise or intrigue are some of the faultlines running through this World Cup in USA and West Indies.

Opaque group stage draws

First things first, the ICC continues to be opaque with their “draws” for the World Cups. It doesn’t matter which format, India and Pakistan end up playing each other in the opening round. One has to go all the way back to the 2012 T20 World Cup for a major ICC event where India and Pakistan weren’t pre-drawn to be guaranteed a face-off.

Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam, right, and India’s captain Rohit Sharma walk into the field before the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Westbury, New York. (AP | PTI)

There is little information on how these draws take place, they are just announced. Imagine a football World Cup where Argentina and Brazil are “drawn” to face each other always in the opening stages because it is guaranteed to draw eyeballs. Of late, Australia vs England and Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh games too are on ICC’s ‘must-play’ list.

Bizarre pre-seeding

As mentioned above, the group-stage matches were designed to have barely any impact on the Super 8 stage that begins on Wednesday. Group 1 was to be: A1, B2, C1, D2 and Group 2 was A2, B1, C2, D1 – where 1 & 2 are not based on where the teams finished but on seedings that were pre-fixed.

If Afghanistan end up topping Group C, the first Super 8 group will feature three group toppers while the other will have three teams that finished second.
The fact that USA, Afghanistan and Bangladesh defied the seedings to make it to the Super 8 ended up adding some intrigue to the second stage. But a fascinating match like Afghanistan vs West Indies has absolutely no bearing on where they are likely to end up in the next stage, stripping the tournament of any jeopardy. For all the talk of Australia potentially facing a probe and sanction if they somehow lost against Scotland – which could have been to their complete advantage – the tournament was designed in a way that a bunch of dead rubbers were inevitable.

One team above all

It is no secret that any World Cup in cricket is planned out to maximise India’s presence. (Recall the 2007 ODI WC situation where India were stunned in the group stage, after a shock defeat to Bangladesh.) At the risk of gravitating toward football again, France in 2002 or Germany in 2018 (or 2022) – when one of the game’s biggest teams is forced to exit early – doesn’t appear likely for India anymore because the draws feel heavily curated.

The ODI World Cup format has transformed into a UEFA Champions League of sorts and the supposed shorter and wilder T20 format too does everything to make sure India are unlikely to exit without playing at least five or six matches. Even in their forgettable campaign in 2021, India were guaranteed five matches because it was a Super 12 with 6 teams each in a pool.

Indian team head coach Rahul Dravid, right, speaks to captain Rohit Sharma ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match between Canada and India at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, Lauderhill, Fla., Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP/PTI)

In 2024, India had the comforts of minimal travel in the group stage (three matches in Nassau followed by a quick trip to Florida) whereas most other teams had to hop between venues, even countries, and clock plenty of air miles. India got a warm-up match in Nassau, whereas their three opponents there in the group stage were all playing their first matches at the new venue the day they met India.

Sample this: When the USA faced India in New York, the ‘co-hosts’ of the tournament were playing at the venue for the first time ever while the away team had already played three matches there.

Catering to India’s primetime

Rohit Sharma and Co also have the advantage of knowing that every one of their matches will be played at the same time – corresponding to prime time in India. There is no need to adapt to playing at different times of the day. Even their Super 8 matches were already pre-decided to be 8pm starts in India. And India are the only side that knows which venue they will play their semifinal that also starts at 8pm IST.

A lot of it is presumably dictated by the broadcasters. But for years, India has had fans who wake up early in the morning for a glorious taste of the Australian summer or stay up late to enjoy the rhythms of the Caribbean. There is also an element of surprise that is lacking in determining how teams progress in the tournament, which completely resets from Wednesday with the group stage having no carryover to the Super 8.

By making this a 20-team event, the ICC did put the world in a World Cup but there is still a lot to be done to make this a truly global sporting event.