How can India still qualify for semi-final of T20 World Cup 2021?

Picture Credit: ICC

India lost to New Zealand by 8 wickets in their T20 World Cup game on Sunday. The match was being termed as the virtual quarter-final as the winner of the game is more likely to make it to the second spot in Group 2 points table after the end of the league stage. This assumption cannot be said to be wrong as Pakistan have already defeated the two most powerful teams of the group- India and New Zealand, and hence the Men in Green are expected to walk to the next round easily with wins over Scotland, Namibia.

Meanwhile, take the case of the winning team of Sunday's match, i.e. New Zealand. The road to the semi-final is simple for them, just win the remaining three games against Scotland, Namibia and Afghanistan. Saying so, we all know that cricket is a game of uncertainties. So what if New Zealand lose one or more of their rest three games? And what if India win all of their remaining games? Can the Men in Blue still qualify for the semi-final?

"Yes" would be the answer if one has to give a one-word reply to the last question asked. But when said in detail, there are a lot of permutations and combinations that need to work in India's favour for the Men in Blue to make inroads into the semifinal. Here are the different hypothetical cases that can help India advance to the knockout stage.

Case I:

If New Zealand lose against Scotland and Namibia and beat Afghanistan. In such a case, India will have to win against Scotland, Namibia and Afghanistan to qualify for the semifinal with 6 points in their kitty. New Zealand and Afghanistan will have 4 points each.

Case II:

If New Zealand lose against Scotland, Namibia and Afghanistan. In such a case, India have to beat all these three teams with wins over Afghanistan and Namibia to come with a fair margin so that the net run rate of India gets a huge boost against these two teams. Notably, if Namibia fail to beat Pakistan in this case, then India just need to beat Namibia, irrespective of the margin of victory.

Case III:

If New Zealand win against Scotland and Namibia but get defeated by Afghanistan by a big margin. In such a case, India will be needing to win against Afghanistan and other teams by such a big margin that their net run rate gets better than that of the Kiwis' and Afghans'.

Case IV:

If New Zealand beat Scotland and lose to Afghanistan and Namibia. In this case, India will need to win all their three matches, including big wins over Afghanistan and Namibia.

Case V:

If New Zealand beat Afghanistan and Namibia and get defeated by Scotland. In this case, India not only have to beat Afghanistan and Scotland, but they have to also hope that the margin of the Kiwis' loss to the Scottish Saltires is big. Meanwhile, India will also need Namibia to lose against Pakistan to make sure they don't come in their path for the second spot in the Group 2 points table.