T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 Groups and Teams Seeding

Pakistan and USA fighting for one spot as we look at the detailed explanation for Super 8 groups and teams seeding for T20 World Cup 2024.

We are almost at the business end of the first phase of T20 World Cup 2024 as teams find themselves in a competitive space fighting for 3 spots that are still wide and open in lieu of the Super 8 stage. As of now, India, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, and Afghanistan have already qualified for the Super 8 stage, and there is space for three more teams. 

It has been one of the most competitive tournaments from ICC in recent times. While T20 as a format is definitely unpredictable as it also gives opportunities for minnows to outperform, the pitches from this year’s World Cup have given a lot of positivity to the minnows. With most of the match being a low-scoring affair, the role of bowlers and skilled batters has become quite effective.

Unlike the typical T20 cricket where hitting was the focus point, fighting for each run has become very important. Hence, we are seeing bowlers leading the charts with wickets more than runs scored from bat so far. Of course, skilled batters will still come out on top, but the probability of that happening has reduced. In simple terms, this is like playing Test cricket with white ball.

Pre-seeding of Teams for Super 8

As we know, out of the 20 teams that are participating in the tournament, a total of 8 teams will proceed to the next stage, i.e. the Super 8 stage. But what exactly is the Super 8 stage, and how are teams going to play in this stage? Well, in the Super 8 stage, teams are divided into two groups of four teams each. Each team will then play the teams of their respective groups once, thus a total of 3 matches per team. 

But how are teams divided into different groups in the Super 8 stage? Well, unlike the previous editions of any ICC tournament where teams were divided basis of their Standings in the group stage, ICC has in the last few tournaments pre-seeded all teams irrespective of their Standings in the group stage. 

For example, India and Pakistan are A1 and A2 respectively from Group A. England and Australia are B1 and B2 respectively from Group B. New Zealand and West Indies are C1 and C2 respectively from Group C. Whereas South Africa and Sri Lanka are D1 and D2 respectively from Group D. According to the Super 8 structure, A1, B2, C1, and D2 are placed in Group 1 and A2, B1, C2, and D1 are placed in Group 2.

But New Zealand and Sri Lanka are already eliminated from the Group stage. So, how does their seeding work? Well, if a pre-seeded team doesn’t make it to the Super 8 stage then the non-seeded team that qualified from that group will replace the pre-seeded team. For example, Afghanistan shall qualify as C1, and either Bangladesh or Netherlands shall qualify as D2 from Group D.

Why Pre-seeing of Teams?

But why has ICC pre-seeded the top 8 teams even before the tournament? Well, there are two main reasons for ICC to do this. To earn more broadcasting revenue, if the schedule for top teams like India is already known then it becomes easier to stream Ads, book match tickets, plan travel, and many other logistical challenges. Basically, it helps ICC to earn more money if the schedule of top teams is already decided.

After the Super 8 where a total of 12 matches shall be played, the top 2 teams from each group will then proceed to the Semifinals. Looking at how things are at the moment, India, Australia, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh shall be in Gr 1. Whereas USA, England, West Indies, and South Africa shall be in group 2. So, one can expect India and Australia to qualify for Semi-finals from Group 1. But group 2 is a group of death, so it is difficult to predict who goes through. 

So, that’s about the detailed explanation of the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 groups and teams seeding. 

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