Unfair advantage to India in T20 World Cup 2024, claims Michael Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan expressed his dissatisfaction with the scheduling of the semi-finals in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.

Vaughan criticized the decision to hold the first semi-final between Afghanistan and South Africa in Trinidad.

"So Afghanistan qualify for the WC [World Cup] semi winning in St Vincent on Monday night .. 4 hr flight delay on Tues [Tuesday] to Trinidad so no time to practice or get accustomed to a new venue .. utter lack of respect to players I am afraid," Vaughan posted on X.

Vaughan also claimed that the tournament schedule favored India.

"Surely this [Afghanistan vs South Africa] semi should have been the Guyana one .. but because the whole event is geared towards India it’s so unfair on others," he said.

The second semi-final scheduled in Guyana on Thursday, features India and England. However, weather forecasts predict a 60% chance of rain, likely disrupting the match. According to weather.com, the probability of rain starts at 33% at the beginning of the game at 10:30 am local time and rises to 59% by around 1 pm.

While a reserve day was allocated for the first semi-final, no such provision exists for the second one. To mitigate potential delays, the ICC has allowed an additional 250 minutes for the semi-final to be completed, giving ground staff ample time to prepare the pitch if weather conditions improve.

In the event of a washout, the team that finished higher in their Super 8 group will progress to the final. This scenario favors India, who topped Super 8 Group 1 with a perfect record, over England, who finished second with two wins out of three matches.