The International Cricket Council has drawn flak from cricket fans and experts around the world for favouring India during the T20 World Cup 2024, which is underway in USA and West Indies. Some of the big issues have been pre-seeding, which was used to determine the groups for Super 8, and India being assigned semifinal 2 in Guyana irrespective of their Super 8 standing.
While it may seem like ICC is stacking the deck in India's favour, it should ne noted that pre-seeding and pre-decided knockout venues for certain teams have been standard practice for over 30 years at cricket World Cups. This is done to maximize commercial value through media rights and gate revenues.
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Here are some examples of how this has been implemented in past World Cups.
1992 ODI World Cup
In the 1992 World Cup, Australia was guaranteed a pre-decided venue for the home semifinal if they qualified. New Zealand was also allocated a home semifinal unless they faced Australia.
According to Imran Khan's autobiography, this led to theories that New Zealand underperformed in their last league match against Pakistan to secure a home semifinal.
1996 ODI World Cup
In the 1996 World Cup, Pakistan was guaranteed a home quarterfinal unless it was against India, as the final was allocated to Pakistan. This is how Pakistan played against India in the quarterfinals in Bangalore.
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2011 ODI World Cup
In the 2011 World Cup, all three host countries, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, were guaranteed home knockout matches at pre-decided venues.
Recent T20 World Cups
In the 2014, 2016, 2021, and 2022 T20 World Cups, pre-seeding was applied to teams in the first round, similar to the ongoing World Cup. Qualified teams from the first round moved to the Super 10s and Super 12s based on their seeding, or a replacement team was allocated the respective seeding position.
What is India's semifinal allocation in 2024 T20 World Cup?
India was allocated semifinal 2 in Guyana irrespective of whether they finished first or second in their group in Super 8s. ICC's initial schedule had Group 1 toppers take on second-placed team in Group 2 in Trinidad. But it was swapped since India topped Group 1 but were pre-decided to play in Guyana.
This was done because the semifinal in Guyana will take place at prime time (8pm on Thursday, June 27) for Indian TV audience. That meant India was the only team that knew when and where it would play its last four clash.
What are ICC's commercial interests?
The ICC prioritizes commercial interests, which are heavily dependent on Indian demographics. The Indian market represents 82%-85% of the cricket economy's foundation and viability. Therefore, India will always be central to ICC event planning.
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Is India benefitting from ICC scheduling?
The scheduling is designed to benefit Indian fans and TV audiences, not necessarily the Indian team. For example, in the 2023 World Cup, the Indian team had to travel extensively between venues. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) tries to provide comfort to the team, but the World Cup organizers prioritize commercial demands.
Pre-seeding and pre-decided venues have been a consistent practice in ICC tournaments to maximize commercial value. While it may seem that India benefits from ICC scheduling, the reality is that these decisions are driven by commercial interests and audience demands, not favoritism towards any team.
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