NEW DELHI: Two games and two defeats - that's exactly the same pattern India had in their ill-fated campaign last year in the 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE. India failed to progress to the knock-outs stage despite registering three comprehensive wins after the two defeats vs Pakistan & New Zealand.
This time Pakistan are facing a similar fate. They lost to India in their first group game, before suffering a shock loss against Zimbabwe in their second match. All is not lost yet though for the 2009 champions. However, like India in 2021, their fate depends on the outcome of other matches in their group.
Pakistan have three matches remaining in the Super 12 stage, against Netherlands (Oct 30), South Africa (Nov 3) and Bangladesh (Nov 6). They are in 5th place in the six-team group. The top teams will go through to the semi-finals.
(All statistics in this article are updated till before the Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh Group 2 match on October 30)
How the group stands after two rounds of matches:
* India are on top of the group with four points, after registering two successive wins against Pakistan and Netherlands.
* South Africa are second with three points -- a big win vs Bangladesh and rain washed out ‘no result’ against Zimbabwe.
* Zimbabwe are third, behind South Africa on NRR, after an upset win against Pakistan following the no result vs the Proteas.
* The top three are followed by Bangladesh, who have two contrasting results so far -- a big win against Netherlands and a massive defeat against the Proteas.
* Pakistan and Netherlands have zero points after losing both their two games so far. Pakistan are ahead of the Dutch on NRR.
How Pakistan can progress to the semis:
* The first and most important criteria is big wins in the remaining three games, which will take their tally to 6 points.
* India must also win all their three remaining games to ease the pressure on Pakistan -- that's victory against South Africa, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, all of whom are in the reckoning for the knock-out stage. That will leave India with 10 points.
* South Africa must lose two of the three remaining games -- especially to India & Pakistan, which will leave them on 5 points.
* Zimbabwe, who are also on 3 points, also need to lose two of the remaining three games. The African nation is currently playing against Bangladesh, post which they have games left to play vs the Netherlands and India.
* Bangladesh, on 2 points, also need to lose two of their remaining three games. They are currently playing Zimbabwe in Brisbane.
* Any deviation from the above criterias and Pakistan’s journey in the tournament will end after the group stage.
