India vs Australia: Are The T20 World Cup Super 8 Seedings Pre-Decided? – Explained

Following Bangladesh’s win over Nepal in Group D, all spots are now locked for the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup. With three inconsequential matches over the next 24 hours, the group stage will come to a close on Tuesday, with the Super 8 stage to get underway on Wednesday, June 19. Bangladesh finished second in Group D behind South Africa and will join Afghanistan, India and Australia in Group 1 of the Super Eights. The other group was decided on Sunday after Australia beat Scotland, providing an helping hand to arch-rivals England in their pursuit of the Super 8 stage.

While all eight teams have been confirmed, there is some confusion among fans, as far as the group seeding an fixtures are concerned.

For example, India (A1) topped Group A with seven points, and will take on Australia, who also topped Group B ahead of England. But, the 2021 champions have been seeded B2 in the first Super 8 group.

However, India and Australia knew even before the start of the tournament that they would face each other, irrespective of where they would have finished in the top two of their respective groups.

For instance, Afghanistan and West Indies face off each other in their final game on Tuesday. With both teams unbeaten so far, either of them can top Group C.

Even if West Indies beat Afghanistan, they have been seeded C2 in the group. Similarly, Afghanistan are C1 as New Zealand failed to qualify for the Super 8s.

All the confusion is due to the freshly-introduced seeding system by the ICC.

Let’s take a look at the ICC’s pre-tournament seedings

ICC’s pre-tournament seedings

A1 – India

A2 – Pakistan

B1 – England

B2 – Australia

C1 – New Zealand

C2 – West Indies

D1 – South Africa

D2 – Sri Lanka

Here’s how the two Super 8 groups look like:

Group 1: India (A1), Australia (B2), Afghanistan (C1) and Bangladesh (D2)

Group 2: England (B1), USA (A2), West Indies (C2), South Africa (D1)