With the T20 World Cup imminent, projections around the likely semi finalists have gathered pace. Michael Vaughan has joined the discussion by naming India, England, Australia and New Zealand as the teams he expects to reach the last four.
The former England batter shared his view on in a post on X, writing: “My 4 T20 World Cup semi finalists will be … India , England , NZ & Australia.”
The upcoming tournament marks the 10th edition of the men’s T20 World Cup and follows the same structure used in 2024. Nine of the world’s top ten ranked T20 international sides are involved.
Bangladesh were removed from the competition after declining to play their group matches in India amid political tensions, with Scotland brought in by the International Cricket Council as replacements.
The opening phase features four groups of five teams, each playing a single round robin. The top two sides from every group progress to the Super 8 stage.
Those eight teams will then be split into two groups of four, labelled Group 1 and Group 2, according to seedings set by the ICC. From each Super 8 group, the leading two teams will advance to the semi finals.
India enter the tournament as defending champions and have been placed in Group A with Pakistan, Netherlands, Namibia and the United States. Their campaign begins against the USA on February 7, followed by fixtures against Namibia on February 12 and Netherlands on February 18. India are scheduled to meet Pakistan in Colombo on February 15, though uncertainty surrounds the match after the Pakistan government announced the team will boycott the fixture. Should that stand, India would be awarded a walkover.
England have been drawn in Group C and open their campaign against Nepal on February 8. They then face West Indies on February 11, Scotland on February 14 and Italy on February 16.
Australia are grouped in Group B, where they will play Ireland on February 11, Zimbabwe on February 13, Sri Lanka on February 16 and Oman on February 20.
New Zealand find themselves in Group D alongside Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Canada. Their fixtures begin against Afghanistan on February 8, followed by matches against UAE on February 10, South Africa on February 14 and Canada on February 17.
