ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Qualification Scenarios: Can India Still be Knocked Out Before Reaching the Semis?

The race for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 semifinals spot is still on as Australia is the only team to qualify for the semifinals. While India and New Zealand are very close to finishing in the top four after the end of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 group matches with England, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka still battling for the finals spot in the semifinals.

India needs only one point from the possible four points to secure a position in the top four. The ‘Men in Blue’ is set to face Bangladesh on Tuesday with one match remaining against Sri Lanka on July 6.

However, India can still technically miss out for the place in the semifinals. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 qualification scenarios are not as easy as it looks.

Let’s take a look at how India can still fail to make it to the top 4 after their first defeat at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 against England on Sunday at Birmingham.

India must lose all of their remaining 2 matches against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with huge margins. Also, England will have to defeat New Zealand after defeating India in a must-win game.

Another scenario for India to not to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 semifinal can be either Pakistan wins both their matches against India and Pakistan or Pakistan wins their last match against Bangladesh. Whoever wins all of their remaining matches (Bangladesh or Pakistan) must win by huge margins so they can overtake India in terms of NRR or Net Run Rate.

India and New Zealand are tied up with 11 points on the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 points table with both of them losing one match each and one no-result match against each other. In order to knock the ‘Men in Blue’ out of the semifinal race, the blackcaps must have better net run-rate than India at the end of the group stage.