Mumbai, Feb 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) Well before they started their campaigns in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup, the top teams were aware of which group they would be placed in if they qualified for the Super Eight stage of the 2026 edition of the mega event.
That was because the top teams were pre-seeded into Super Eight Group 1 and Super Eight Group 2 and thus knew their opponents well in advance, well before they reached the group of eight of the tournament.
For this edition, India were X1, Australia X2, West Indies X3 and South Africa X4 and were placed in Super Eight Group 1, while England was Y1, New Zealand Y2, Pakistan Y3 and Sri Lanka Y4 and were slotted in Group 2. Only Australia failed to make it to the Super 8s, and their spot went to Zimbabwe, putting them in Group 1 alongside hosts and defending champions India, 2024 finalists South Africa and two-time champions West Indies.
If any other form of grouping format had been used, Zimbabwe would have landed in the other group, and the composition of it would have been different. Because of this, there is a feeling that the event has landed with pre-determined match-ups, with commercial interests likely taking precedence in deciding the groups.
West Indies coach Darren Sammy, a two-time winner of the T20 World Cup as a player, on Monday expressed his opinion on the unique pre-seeding applied in this edition of the T20 World Cup that ensured that the seeded teams got a pre-determined group placement, their performance in their preliminary group notwithstanding.
Sammy initially said they were not bothered by it as they knew that they have to play strong opponents like India and South Africa, the finalists of the 2024 edition.
"Look, we play what's in front of us, to be honest. I mean, we knew before the tournament what was going to happen, where if we did that, where we were going to be. We just try to control what we can.
"Ideally, I guess, in sports, you seldom get the top teams in the different groups in the same round. But look, my team knows they just had to play a World Cup. We've got Zimbabwe tomorrow. We got South Africa, and then India. And I think I was here before, and I said, these are teams for us, we got the finalists of the last World Cup.
"If you're going to win, you've got to play what's in front of you and not take it for granted, not take anybody lightly. If you start to bring in other factors, then it takes you off track with your focus. And for us, our focus is on Zimbabwe tomorrow and doing everything in our power to come out victorious," said Sammy in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Zimbabwe clash in the Super 8 stage.
He did see some positives in this arrangement and said it allows the fans to plan their itinerary as they know who their opponent will be in the second half of the tournament.
"Look, I mean, I guess if you take the logistics that come into it, trying to give the fans who probably travel an opportunity to plan. Ideally, I think the big thing for most people is they would be saying oh - West Indies came out of the group, oh, Zimbabwe came out of the group. That means somebody they see who did not come out. Zimbabwe did what they had to do. If we were not seeded or so, and I saw that this person is going to play there. That gives me motivation. And I'm pretty sure Zimbabwe, looking at that group there, gave them motivation and inspiration to come out and play the way they've played. But I do understand from the logistical standpoint, trying to give the fans the surety, whatever flights, whatever. That's not my field. If you ask me about power play and these things, I could probably answer you in a better manner," he added.
Sammy also talked about Shai Hope's approach to the game, as the batter has not gone bonkers from the start and used the long handle as is expected in the shortest format of the game. It seems a very sensible approach for the West Indies as they have players who can resort to power-hitting in the death overs and make up for the slow-going at the start.
Sammy said Hope is not as muscular as some of his teammates, but can match their six-hitting in intensity and distance.
"I think a batsman's job is to score runs. Whether, if you watch Shai, he hits the ball as long as anybody. Six over the hoop or six in the stand is still six runs. But I think the role he plays at the top, and I think I saw something. His strike rate is still higher than a lot of our big hitters. So I think it's just because he's not muscling the ball, we think that he's not as bad as he looks. But his boundary percentage, his strike rate, is still the same," he said.
"The role he brings, he executes it in a way that makes the team successful. And Rovman or Brandon King or Sherfane or Hetty, they have their role that they could probably execute the best way possible in the squad that we have. When you put all these different roles together, that's what you get, like we've been playing in the group stages. But Shai is class, he works really hard at his game, understands what he has to do in the batting lineup, which could help our guys, and the other guys fulfil their role even better.
"So, if he's scoring runs, we're happy, but like we've seen throughout this tournament, performances have been coming from different people. When Shai and Brandon didn't come off, it was Hetty and Sherfane, then it was Jason, and Shepherd won one time, so it's good. The team is in a good space. We just have to continue trusting the processes and executing the different roles successfully," he added.
The West Indies coach admitted that they did not have an ideal preparation for the 2026 T20 World Cup, as the West Indies had won only two out of the seven series they played in 2025. He said that it is the first time in many years that they have all the star players in the side. He admitted that the players got inspired by the fact that they were playing the World Cup.
"Yeah, obviously it's a World Cup. Which athlete plays sports? The World Cup is the pinnacle. That's what you look for in athletics: the Olympics, Football is the World Cup, Rugby World Cup, Cricket World Cup. However, I think it's the first time that, in the long term, we've had every single person who is available for the West Indies playing. And I think just the way we've been building the different players that we've tried, heading into the World Cup, and I think it's a conscious effort on each player to just pay a little bit more attention to the detail, the preparation, the planning, and I mean with the planning now the clarity that they've had and we've created it makes it easier to execute.
The West Indies head coach added that this time the players believe that they can go all the way, and that has reflected in their performance so far.
"So I think that's good, plus I mean the guys believe they could do something special. And that's what I saw. And that's why I said it from the first press conference. I feel we could do something special, and we've been taking it one game at a time. And again, tomorrow, that one game is against Zimbabwe. So hopefully we continue in that with that same mindset, that same preparation, and hopefully that equates to performance on the cricket field," he added.
Source: IANS
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