Keshav Maharaj picks semi-finalists of T20 World Cup 2024; leaves out England
The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 will now host the Super 8 stage. 8 out of 20 participating teams have made it to this round. There will be two groups of four teams each in the Super 8, and two teams from either group will qualify for the semifinal. Group 1 has India, Australia, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, while Group 2 has England, West Indies, South Africa, and United States. The first game will be played on June 19 between USA and South Africa.
As the competition has its top 8 teams, there has been a buzz around who will be the semi-finalists in this competition. Well, there are some top contenders, but nothing can be said as bigger teams have found it hard to get going. So, many former cricketers and cricket pundits are giving their opinions on who could be the four semi-finalists in the tournament. Amid that, the South African spinner Keshav Maharaj, who is part of the team and likely to be in action on Wednesday, comes up with his own prediction.
T20 World Cup 2024: Keshav Maharaj predicts four semi-finalists of the tournament
South Africa have been on a roll and won four consecutive games to make it to the Super 8. They will be facing the co-host USA in the first game of the next round in Antigua. South Africa will be favourites heading into this game, but they can't write off USA, who beat teams like Pakistan and Canada. Meanwhile, in one of the videos shared by IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals, Keshav Maharaj was seen naming four teams who could play in the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
He picked South Africa, India, Australia, and West Indies. Maharaj said, ?I wanna go with South Africa, I think we built on what we produced last year in 50 over World Cup. I think India is obviously one of the huge favourites in T20 World Cup 2024 from a balanced perspective; they are probably one of the better balanced teams. I will never write off Australia, so I?ll say they are one of the top candidates. And the fourth one, I?m gonna say West Indies." Surprisingly, Maharaj didn't name the defending champions, England.
Jos Buttler and co. have done a decent job when they needed to win the last two games by a big margin. They did it and qualified. They have momentum and are playing a good brand of cricket. Afghanistan can be a surprise, as they have beaten New Zealand, and the conditions in West Indies suit their team more. So, it will be interesting to see which team will qualify, but one thing is sure: the pitches in West Indies are better, and we see more interesting games here in the Super 8 of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Also Read: 3 Reasons why India must stick with Virat Kohli as opener in Super 8 despite his recent failures
