‘The whole event is for India, unfair for others’: Vaughan blames ICC after South Africa beat Afghanistan in World T20 Championship semi-final

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has accused ICC of favoring India and being unfair to other teams in the T20 World Cup. Vaughan said the first semi-final at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba should have been between the Super Eight Group 1 winners (India) and the Group 2 runners-up (England), but instead went between South Africa, Group 2 winner and Group 1 runner-up Afghanistan.

It was decided that India would play the second semi-final in Guyana regardless of their place in the Super Eights. ICC has not provided any official reason for this, but it appears that it was done for Indian viewers. The first semi-final, a night encounter, was supposed to start at 6 am IST (June 27), which is not the ideal time for viewers in India. The second semi-final – a one-day match – was scheduled for 8 pm IST on the same day, a much better time for spectators in India.

Moreover, all of India’s matches in this World Cup have been day matches, i.e. at 8 pm in New Delhi for the same reason, while most of the other teams have played matches under lights.

This created an unusual situation of different playing conditions for the two semi-finals. The first semi-final between Afghanistan and South Africa had a reserve day, but none was scheduled for the one between India and England. India, due to their better finish in the Super Eights, will qualify for the final if no match is possible due to bad weather in Guyana.

“Surely this semi should have been Guyana’s… but as the whole event is geared towards India it’s so unfair to the others… #T20IWorldCup,” Vaughan wrote on X.

The former England batter’s post came after Afghanistan were bowled out for 56 – the lowest score in a T20 World Cup semi-final – in 11.5 overs by South Africa.

It is worth noting that Vaughan is not the first former cricketer to raise the issue of the T20 World Cup schedule. Former England batsman David Lloyd also criticized the ICC for favoring India.

Sangling’s South African pacer Marco Jansen and left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi took three wickets each while fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje kept up relentless pressure with two wickets each.

Only Azmatullah Omarzai (10) reached double figures for the Afghans, while 13 extras contributed the most to the paltry total.

The batting collapse marked a completely deflating effort for Afghanistan after Monday’s thrilling drama when they beat Bangladesh in St. Vincent’s to reach the last four.

Throughout this dream run to their first semi-final of a senior men’s world tournament, Afghanistan relied on openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to give them a strong platform and at the same time mask the weaknesses of the rest of the batting lineup.

But when Jansen had Gurbaz bowled out by Reeza Hendricks in the first over of the match, the worst fears of the Afghans and their growing mass of supporters in the Caribbean were realized as the Proteas ruthlessly exploited their opponents’ technical deficiencies.