Has India Been Granted Unfair Advantages Throughout The 2024 T20 World Cup? Here's What Social Media Thinks

Ahead of the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup, where India will face off against England, cricketing circles have been set ablaze with fiery talks around two divisive topics: pre-seeding and pre-determined venues for the knockout games.

Much has been said about the seemingly unfair advantages that India has been granted in the World Cup, especially concerning match timings, conditions, and of course, pre-seeding.

In fact, former England skipper Michael Vaughan was one of the most recent prominent figures to have spoken out about the same, taking to X, to expound on the unfair treatment of the Afghanistan team, following their collapse against South Africa in the first semi-final in Trinidad and Tobago.

Vaughan went on the attack, lambasting the favoritism ICC has displayed towards India, with the side getting the nod to play their semi-final during the day, and with the choice of location as well.

As expected, the online circles are abuzz with criticism flowing either way. But what can we highlight here? Well, let’s try to process the same.

Amidst all the hype, a twitter user took the time to set out a few benchmarks and examples from history for us all to contemplate and discuss over.

Pre-Determined Venues for Knockout Games

The biggest point of criticism that has risen lately has been regarding the choice of venue that India have received, which is Guyana, to face off against England.

Despite the frustrations that are shared regarding the same, the fact of the matter is that pre-seeding is something that has been a common practice for decades on end now.

In fact, as pointed out in the tweet, multiple instances of pre-determining venues have occurred over the years, from Australia being guaranteed semi-final venue in 1992, to India being allocated Bengaluru as the location for the 1996 WC quarter-final, to 2011 where all the host nations of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh being granted home advantage in knockout matches.

So, whilst a point of argument could be made around how India as a non-host nation were allocated Guyana as their venue this time around, well this is where both pre-seeding and the commercial aspect of the game comes into play.

Pre-Seeding and Pitfalls

Another one of the biggest talking points surrounding the World Cup has been that of pre-seeding, the seemingly pre-determined manner in which teams will progress past the group stages.

This entailed that the top two highest-ranked teams in each group of the 2024 T20 World Cup were assigned seeds according to their ICC T20I rankings.

So, in Group A, India were A1 and Pakistan A2. In Group B, England were B1 and Australia B2. In Group C, New Zealand were C1 and West Indies C2 and in Group D, South Africa and Sri Lanka were D1 and D2 respectively. And unless someone upset the pre-seeded teams to claim their spot, most teams were well aware of who they would face off against in the knockout stages.

Now, there is no denying that the competitive spirit of the game is ruined as a result of the practice, it is once again not a novel addition to this World Cup.

As mentioned in the tweet, pre-seeding was adhered to in the 2014, 2016, 2021, and 2022 editions of the T20 World Cups as well.

Now, the only real reason that the ICC have claimed as their factor to decide why pre-seeding was followed was to put the travelling fans’ needs first.

The seedings help travelling fans to plan their journey better. Since all the Super 8 matches take place in different Caribbean islands — which are different countries — it would have been a logistical nightmare for fans to travel to these nations on such short notice.

Yet, the question that remains begging to be asked then is what about the other editions when tournaments took place within a singular country? I guess, we just have to wait for the answers on that.

Commercial Interests of the ICC

Let’s cut to the chase here, India is, and will be favoured in one way or the other, no matter what, because India draws in the big viewers.

Despite all that can be said about upholding and prioritizing the game first, the ugly and sad truth is that cricket is viewed as a business first.

With the ICC already having taken the monumental decision to co-host the tournament in the US as well, a nation where the game’s presence is close to non-existent, in the hopes of promoting the same, it was more than expected for the ICC to play their best cards in order to ensure maximum viewership.

This is exactly why you would have noticed that most, if not all, of India’s matches take place during prime time viewing hours, especially in the context of IST, at around 8 PM. All because the market for the game in India is the biggest there ever has been, and it is the most lucrative way for the ICC to make their money.

Profit, unfortunately, does and will continue to drive the game forward, not the spirit of the game so much so. And since India are the biggest name in the game, well, best believe that one way or the other, some aspect of the game shall always favour them, as long as they remain at the peak.

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