India alloted second-semifinal match for T20 WC 2024, to get no reserve day
May 14, 2024
New Delhi [India], May 14 : India will be playing the second-semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup on June 27 at Providence, Guyana, if they happen to make it to the knockouts, reported ESPNCricinfo on Tuesday.
India has been allocated the Guyana semifinal likely due to match timings as the first semifinal, set to take place in Tarouba, Trinidad from 8:30 PM local time on June 26, is a night game. However, the Guyana semifinal will be starting at 10:30 AM local time, which as per Indian Standard Time, is a much TV-friendly slot of 8 PM.
The final, to be held at Bridgetown, Barbados on June 29, will take place at 10 AM local time, will happen at 7:30 PM in India, as per ESPNCricinfo.
As per the playing conditions accessed by ESPNCricinfo, there will be no reserve day for the second semifinal. However, an extra of 250 minutes worth of time will be given to the match, rather than 190 minutes given to the first semifinal and final, which have reserve days.
The additional hour of extra time has been added since the tournament schedule does not allow for a reserve day. If reserve day was given for semifinal two, it would have meant just a day's worth of gap for recovery and practice between that game and the final.
The second semifinal could be in for a tight squeeze if persistent rain takes place because as per rules, a result can only be decided if both teams bat for atleast 10 overs.
In the majority of T20 games, the teams batting second are supposed to bat for just five overs atleast in order to achieve a result. This system will be in place for the majority of the ICC T20 World Cup matches. But in the knockout games though, teams batting second will have to face atleast 10 overs in order to decide on a result as per the Duckworth-Lewis method. This was also the case for the knockout games in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
India are placed in Group A of the ICC tournament alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and co-hosts USA.
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, followed by the marquee clash against Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue. India will then play the USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.