T20 World Cup 2021: Ian Chappell Predicts England And West Indies To Qualify From Group 1 And India, Pakistan To Qualify From Group 2

Oct 25, 2021 at 1:43 PM

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T20 World Cup 2021: Ian Chappell Predicts England And West Indies To Qualify From Group 1 And India, Pakistan To Qualify From Group 2

Ian Chappell, former Australia captain, has predicted his favourites to reach the knockout stage after the first round of the ICC T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman.

According to Ian Chappell, India and Pakistan are the two teams who will advance to the semi-finals leaving behind New Zealand, Afghanistan, Namibia, and Scotland in Group 2.  About Group 1, the commentator and former cricketer Ian Chappell expressed how difficult it was to choose 2 among Australia, England, West Indies, and South Africa. Finally, he picked England and West Indies as the frontrunners.

Ian Chappell. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Ian Chappell. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Ian Chappell Predicts England And West Indies To Qualify From Group 1

The two choices in Group 1 were made with little conviction, the former batter admitted. The other two teams in the group are Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who qualified for the Super 12 after playing the first round.

“Group 1 – where Australia, England, South Africa, and West Indies all reside – is much more difficult to predict. Using the pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey method, I favour England and West Indies to qualify from this group, but I do so with little conviction. And that’s the beauty of the T20 World Cup – it’s a lottery,” Ian Chappell shared in a column.

Adil Rashid of England celebrates the wicket of Obed McCoy of West Indies with team mate Jonny Bairstow during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup match between England and Windies at Dubai International Stadium on October 23, 2021 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 
Adil Rashid took four wickets for just two runs CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

In the column titled “The T20 World Cup is a lottery because the format favours upsets,” the expert added the qualification to his predictions owing to the unpredictability of the shortest version of the game.

In the West Indies vs England match, Adil Rashid unleashed one of the best spells of T20 spin bowling to capture four wickets in his quota of 2.2 overs. He bowled 12 dot balls, conceding only two runs as West Indies was bundled for 55. West Indies did pick four wickets, three inside the powerplay, but the target of 56 was always chasable.

Lendl Simmons (3), Evin Lewis (6), Shimron Hetmyer (9), Dwayne Bravo (5), Nicholas Pooran (1), Kieron Pollard (6), and Andre Russell (0) didn’t contribute much with the bat. Chris Gayle ended as the top scorer for West Indies with 13 runs off 13 balls.

Ian Chappell: New Zealand Can Be A Threat To India And Pakistan To Qualify From Group 2

Although the former right-handed batsman did show a little more certainty about his forecast for Group 2, he did add that New Zealand can be a big threat to the two favourites India and Pakistan.

“Logic would say that the venue favors the highly unpredictable Pakistan, who for most of the previous decade used the UAE as their “home” turf. Also, players who participated in the second half of the rearranged IPL will benefit from the tournament’s shift to the UAE and that makes India a big beneficiary,” Ian Chappell further added.

According to Ian Chappell, the key factor that aids the two arch-rivals from the subcontinent better is the familiar conditions in the UAE. Moreover, Pakistan has been using UAE as their “home” for a decade now, which gives them an added advantage.

On the other hand, India will also be benefitted as most of the players from the squad have featured in the recently concluded IPL 2021, as the second leg was held in UAE after Covid-19 and bio bubble breaches prompted to postpone IPL 2021 in India.

In Match 1 of Group 1 of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Pakistan brought to an end India’s near-three-decade domination of them in the world stage in the most convincing fashion, embarrassing their arch-rivals by 10 wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The law of averages had to catch up with India sooner or later after having won seven ODI and five T20 World Cup games since they first met at Sydney in 1992.
Shaheen Shah Afridi AFP/Getty Images
Shaheen Shah Afridi AFP/Getty Images
Virat Kohli scored a half-century, but it went in vain as opposition Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (68 not out off 52 balls) looked regal in attack, elegant in defence and composed in a chase of 152, which was achieved in 17.5 overs. India hasn’t ever lost a T20 International by 10 wickets, and Pakistan won by such a margin for the first time.
Babar Azam had the exuberance of Mohammed Rizwan (79 not out off 55 balls) to match his cool quotient as Pakistan, not for once during the entire match, looked like imploding. In between them, they hit 12 boundaries and five sixes to make it a ‘Super Sunday’ for Pakistan. MOM Shaheen Shah Afridi picked scalps of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli to finish with figures of 3/31.
Brief scores: India: 151/7 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 57, Rishabh Pant 39; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3/31) lost to Pakistan: 152 for no loss in 17.5 overs (Babar Azam 68 not out, Mohammad Rizwan 79 not out) by 10 wickets.
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