With three inconsequential matches over the next 24 hours, the group stage of the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup will come to an end. The line-up for the Super Eight stage, or the next round of the ICC tournament, was completed on Monday, with Bangladesh securing the final spot after beating Nepal in their Group D tie. The better part of the fixture for the Super Eight was almost confirmed earlier last week with the likes of India (Group A), Australia (Group B), England (Group A), Afghanistan (Group C), West Indies (Group C), South Africa (Group D), and USA (Group A) making it through.
While the draw for the subsequent rounds unfolds with each match in the previous stages of a tournament, most or all of the teams were quite well aware of who, when and where they will face their opponents in the Super Eight stage. For example, India already knew that Australia would be one of their opponents in the Super Eight even before the tournament had kicked off, irrespective of where they would have finished in the top two of their respective groups. Well, it was down to the freshly-introduced seeding system by the ICC.
A1 – India
A2 – Pakistan
B1 – England
B2 – Australia
C1 – New Zealand
C2 – West Indies
D1 – South Africa
D2 – Sri Lanka
Group 1: A1, B2, C1, D2
Group 2: A2, B1, C2, D1
The two groups in the Super Eight stage were largely decided based on pre-tournament seedings assigned to respective teams of all four groups in the preliminary stage. However, if the respective teams fail to make the Super Eight, then the next-best team in the group stage takes the seeding automatically. For example, since Pakistan incurred a group-stage exit, the second-best team from Group A, the USA, took A2 seeding.
This was the first time ever that the ICC introduced this pre-tournament seeding system at the T20 World Cup, which clearly painted the picture for Team India, indicating which three teams they would face in the Super Eight, provided they finished in the top two of Group A. Rohit Sharma’s men are slated to face Australia, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the Super Eight.
The seeding system nullified group-stage performance for teams finishing in the top two. For example, Australia scripted an unbeaten run in Group B, winning all four matches against Oman, England, Namibia, and Scotland. However, the ICC seeded them B2, implying that even if they finished second in Group B, they would have still faced India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan in the Super Eight.
While the seeding system was introduced to give more clarity over the schedule to travelling spectators in Caribbean islands, it generated a number of inconsequential group-stage matches
