(AP Photo)
Michael Vaughan persists in his criticism of the scheduling for the 2024 T20 World Cup, alleging it has been structured to benefit India. Vaughan points out that unlike other teams, India played all their matches in the morning and had the certainty of their semifinal venue in Guyana regardless of their standings in the points table.
The former England captain argues that while he understands the decision to cater to the lucrative Indian market, a global tournament should ensure fairness for all participants.
“It’s their (India’s) tournament isn’t it? Literally, it’s their tournament,” Vaughan said on Club Praire Fire podcast. “They get to play whenever they want. They get to know exactly where their semifinal will be. They play every single game in the morning so people can watch them at night in India.”
“I get that money is a big play in the world of cricket. And I get that in bilateral series but you would think that when you get to a World Cup, ICC should be a little fairer to everybody. And it shouldn’t just be India just because they bring a few quid in. Like I said, I completely get it in bilaterals but when you get to a World Cup, any kind of sympathy or any kind of sway towards one team. This tournament is purely set up for India as simple as that,” he added.
During the 2024 T20 World Cup, jointly hosted by USA and the West Indies, Rohit Sharma’s team played all their matches in the morning to align with prime time in India. Consequently, if India qualified for the semifinals, they were slated for the morning slot in Guyana, while the first semifinal was scheduled as a night game.
Adam Gilchrist, part of the discussion, concurred with Vaughan, acknowledging India’s consistent performance but also suggesting that the integrity of the tournament had been somewhat compromised.
“There are a lot of passionate Indian fans that are very much aware of that as well. They are in agreement that it (cricket) has compromised to an extent and let’s say it again – India have been the best team, they are the most consistent team throughout. Maybe, South Africa might claim that they have been too. India should win it and good on them if they do but you’re right. There are a lot of Indian supporters who are not naive and blind to that situation,” Gilchrist said.
