T20 World Cup 2024: Who will be India’s opponents in Super Eights?

Team India. (Source – Akshar Patel)

India booked their spot in the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup 2024 after winning their first three matches in Group A against Ireland, Pakistan, and the USA. On Saturday, June 15, India were scheduled to play their last game in the group stage against Canada in Lauderhill, Florida but it was abandoned due to a wet outfield.

India are one of the six teams who have booked their place in the Super Eight stage of the competition. It was announced that Group 1 will comprise teams that finished first in Groups A and C, and second in Groups B and D. Meanwhile, Group 2 includes the table-toppers from Groups B and D and second-placed teams from Groups A and C.

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India finished on top of Group A and are now pitted against teams like Australia and Afghanistan in Group 1. One more spot is there for the taking in the group and the Netherlands and Bangladesh are competing for it. Bangladesh are placed at No. 2 in Group D, with four points from three games and have a net run-rate (NRR) of +0.478. Meanwhile, the Netherlands are stationed at No. 3, with two points from three games and an NRR of -0.408.

The Bangla Tigers are facing Nepal in their last Group D clash on Monday. Meanwhile, the Netherlands clash against Sri Lanka on the same day. It will be intriguing to see which team joins Group 1 from Group D.

When and where are India playing their matches in Super Eight stage?

India start their campaign in the Super Eight stage against Afghanistan on Thursday, June 20, at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. The Men in Blue will then take on either Bangladesh or the Netherlands at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Saturday, June 22.

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India’s last match in Group 1 will take place against 2021 champions Australia on Monday, June 24, at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia. The top two teams from Groups 1 and 2 will make it to the semifinals.

ICC had pre-seeded the top eight teams as per the T20I rankings: India (A1), Pakistan (A2), England (B1), Australia (B2), New Zealand (C1), West Indies (C2), South Africa (D1) and Sri Lanka (D2) were the allotted seedings.

Irrespective of where these teams finish in the group table, the seeding will be retained for the Super 8 round, which will determine the fixtures for this stage. Also, if one of the pre-seeded teams is eliminated from the competition, then the unseeded team that replaced them will take over their seeding and the spot in the Super 8 group.