There were few who were criticizing the format of the WC 2011 and they were right in their point. With four quality teams placed with three minnows (I assume Bangladesh has shed up off the tag by now) in two Groups and with top four from each group qualifying for the knock- outs there was hardly any competition during the league stages. Group A to the point served the purpose of the ICC where top four teams qualified for the next round with still a week of matches remaining.
But it was Group B which proved everyone wrong. Ever since Ireland beat England, Group B was wide open. With Bangladesh beating England this Group got even more complicated. League stage is almost over now but still we don?t have top four teams from this Group. South Africa is the only team who has qualified for the knock-outs from Group B. India and England are at second and third position with 7 points??each but England have played all their matches, where as West Indies and Bangladesh are placed at fourth and fifth spot respectively. The two minnows Ireland and Netherlands are already out of contention.
IF things go as per the script means if South Africa beats Bangladesh at Mirpur on 19th?March, then in this case Bangladesh will be out of the World Cup and the top four teams will qualify for the quarters. But if Bangladesh produces a magic against the Proteas and beat them, then once again Group B will be wide open. In this scenario Bangladesh along with South Africa will qualify for the quarters leaving England, India and West Indies to fight for remaining two places.
So the match between India and West Indies will be very crucial for this group.??So Group B will be alive till the last day of the League stages and very few would have predicted it before the start of the tournament. Unfortunately fate of England, India and West Indies will be based on the result of this match. If West Indies defeat India at Chennai on Sunday then West Indies will go through along with Bangladesh and South Africa. However, the victory margin will be crucial in this condition.
If West Indies beat India by more than 150 runs??or chase the target say in around 20 to 25 overs ( Still I am not sure about this Equation, it?s just an assumption) then England will qualify along with West Indies and South Africa and India will be out of the World Cup . But if India beats West Indies, then India will qualify along with England, South Africa and Bangladesh.??Looking at the Run Rate of India which is at ?+0.768?, West Indies will need to beat India by a very huge margin say how they defeated Bangladesh in league stages which I don?t think is possible.
So Ironically Team India even though they are second in the group are not 100% sure of entering the quarters. It is good for the tournament but not good for Indian cricket fans who are still not sure whether or not their country will make it to the quarters when they expected India to reach the quarters say around eight days back. But still its cricket and that?s the beauty of this game.