Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has said that India, Pakistan, England and Australia are placed in comparatively easier groups in the 2024 T20 World Cup as well. He also added that economics is the driving force behind the groupings. While India and Pakistan are placed in Group A alongside Ireland, Canada and the United States of America. England and Australia are placed with Scotland, Namibia and Oman in Group B as well.
While talking about this in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “Logically, Scotland shouldn’t trouble England that much but Scotland and Ireland are teams whose players are seen playing a lot in county cricket, and that’s why it’s a team that can trouble slightly. It’s a slight potential banana skin. This group has Australia and England, and Scotland are the third biggest team. So the understanding has been kept that qualification becomes certain.”
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“You might be wondering why India are in such a group whereas Group D has South Africa, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and the Netherlands. There are chances of so many upsets. England and Australia are in a group from which qualification will be easy. India and Pakistan are also in such a group. This is pure economics. You want your main teams to progress,” the former India opener further added.
However, he also claimed that the main teams were never going to be put in a group where the chances of not qualifying are high. He shared that it was a learning from the 2007 ODI World Cup which was an absolute damp squib after India’s elimination as well.
“I was talking about England. Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali – they have a very deep batting lineup. So it will be enjoyable to see how they perform. Jofra Archer is back. Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Reece Topley, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali – I think it’s a very decent team. There aren’t too many changes if you compare it with the last World Cup team but that’s alright. The team is good, the conditions will tell whether they will play well or not but it is one of the better teams,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
