T20 World Cup: Have India Qualified For Semifinal? Qualification Scenario Explained

Have India qualified for the T20 World Cup semifinal? (Highlights | Cricket News)

India's thumping victory over Bangladesh in the Super 8 match on Saturday has prompted fans to ask whether the Rohit Sharma's men have qualified for their second consecutive semifinal at the T20 World Cup or not.

The answer is not yet but they are really close to booking a spot in the final four. Here we take a look at how India can qualify for the T20 World Cup semifinal after their second straight Super 8 victory and in what scenarios, they can not.

India In Super 8 Group 1

After their top place finish in Group A in the opening stage, the Men In Blue have followed it up with two dominating wins over Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the first two Super 8 games.

Before defeating Bangladesh by 50 runs, India had gotten past Afghanistan winning the match by 47 runs. They currently sit at the top of Group 1 with a game against Australia to play and a net run rate of +2.425.

Super 8 Group 1 Remaining Matches

Australia play Afghanistan on Saturday, June 22 and then India on Monday, June 24. Bangladesh in their last match face Afghanistan soon after the India-Australia clash.

The top two teams among the four in the group advance to the semifinals.

India Semifinal Qualification Scenario

If Australia beat Afghanistan in the upcoming match, the two semifinalists of Group 1 will be confirmed. India and Australia will both advance to the final four.

However, if Afghanistan are able to pull off an upset and defeat Australia, then the group will stay alive. India will then have to beat Australia to go through to the semifinal. If India lose to Australia in their final Super 8 game and Afghanistan are able to defeat the mighty Aussies then the fate of Group 1 will depend on the Afghanistan-Bangladesh clash.

If Bangladesh beat Afghanistan, India will go through to the last four. In case of the Rashid Khan-led side defeating Bangladesh, it will be a three-way tie with all India, Australia and Afghanistan having four points. The two semifinalists will be then decided on the basis of net run rate.

So, for India to still not qualify for the semifinal, they will have to lose heavily to Australia and Afghanistan will have to win both their remaining matches, including one against Australia, by massive margins.

• For India to Qualify

  Australia beat Afghanistan or India beat Australia

• For India To Not Qualify

  Afghanistan beat Australia by a big margin then India lose to Australia by a big margin so that Australia's net run rate is higher than India and then Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by a margin big enough for them to take over India on net run rate