India will enter the tournament with a burning desire to end their prolonged trophyless streak, having last won the Champions Trophy in 2013. They will begin their tournament opener on June 5 against Ireland. Their other games will be on June 12 (against the USA) and June 15, when they take on Canada.

Having won the inaugural edition in 2007, India, like always, will be one of the top contenders for the trophy. While they have announced a strong 15-member squad, ICC's controversial scheduling offers them an edge.

The biggest-ever T20 World Cup

For the first time, 20 teams will take part in the competition, making it the biggest World Cup in this aspect. Unlike previous editions, a new format is in place for T20 World Cup 2024. The 20 sides are divided equally into four groups, with each having a seeding. They will play against each other once within the group in the first round.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super 8 stage, where the remaining teams are slotted into two groups of four teams each. It’s worth mentioning that Super 8 groups are not dependent upon where the teams will finish during the group stage, as they will retain their first-round seeding, making it an already predictable route.

For example, even if England finish second in Group B and Australia first, England will still retain the A1 slot for the Super 8 stage.

In case, one of the two top-seeded teams doesn’t qualify, the team replacing them will be allotted the slot the seeded team was supposed to be in. For instance, if Scotland qualify instead of England, then they would assume the schedule of A1, which is England, in the second round.

If both A1 and A2 fail to qualify, then the group winner would assume the schedule of A1 and the runners-up of A2.

Placed in order of their seedings, India and Pakistan from Group A, England and Australia from Group B, New Zealand and West Indies from Group C and South Africa and Sri Lanka certainly are the favourites to advance to the Super 8 stage. Group C’s Afghanistan and Group D’s Bangladesh might be the potential threats for a rejig to the list but that looks highly unlikely given both are yet to crack the code in the format. Bangladesh’s confidence has been dented further with a recent T20I series defeat against co-hosts USA.

Talking about the rest of the teams, an upset here and there could be possible, but it would take something extraordinary for them to secure a second-round berth.

India allotted Guyana semi-final on June 27

Arguably, the most contentious decision from the tournament is India being allotted the Guyana semi-final slot on June 27 if they qualify for the knockout stage.

"If India qualifies for the semi-finals, they will play in the second semi-final scheduled for Guyana on the 27 June 2024," says ICC's playing conditions for T20 World Cup 2024.

While it’s an open secret that the financial bearings of a major global event heavily depend on the Indian audience, whether from a broadcasting point of view or in-venue support, ICC's preferential treatment didn't go well among many.

Hand-picked group stages and pre-determined Super 8s progression.

India, if they get there, even know exactly where their semi-final will be played – a luxury not afforded to any other team.

Does the structure of the #T20WorldCup lack sporting integrity? pic.twitter.com/WDwHZqJHgq

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) May 31, 2024

India have been likely given the second semi-final in Providence, Guyana, due to the friendlier match timings (8:00 pm IST) for its domestic audience contrary to the other top-four clash, which is scheduled to start at 6:00 am IST. And the scheduling would possibly help the fans to plan their travel itinerary better, bringing in more crowd support.

From a tactical point of view, interestingly, India have picked four spinners in the squad – the leg-spin of Yuzvendra Chahal, two left-arm orthodox allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel and one left-arm wrist spinner in Kuldeep Yadav – hinting they expect the pitches to assist tweakers.

Since the semi-final will take place at 10:30 am local time, another factor that could work in India’s favour is the absence of dew, enabling their spin-heavy attack to grip the ball better.

It remains to be seen whether BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s assurance of India becoming the champions under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy turns out to be true.

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