This sword is hanging in the semi-finals - this coincidence is not good for Team India

IND vs NZ: Team India is ready to play the semi-finals of the World Cup once again. Team India has reached the semi-finals for the fifth time out of the 6 ODI World Cups played in the 21st century. Out of this, India played the finals twice and won the title once. Now once again Team India remains a contender for the title due to its explosive performance. Still, a coincidence is taking place which seems to be ruining India's dream of winning the World Cup.

12 years ago, Team India won the World Cup title in 2011. That World Cup was played in India. This time also the World Cup 2023 is being played in India and from the way Team India has shown its game, it seems that the path will not be too difficult for them in the semi-finals and finals as well. Team India has won all its matches in the league stage and such performance is the reason for so much confidence among the fans.

Need to be cautious

Nevertheless, whatever be the performance of Team India in the league stage, the challenge for it in the semi-finals will be very difficult. India will face New Zealand in the first semi-final on Wednesday 15 November. The same team which had defeated India in the semi-finals in the World Cup 2019. Not only that semi-final, the Indian team has lost 2 consecutive semi-finals. Even in view of this, Team India needs to be cautious. Still, considering the dominance of Team India in this World Cup, it is being considered as a contender, which is not wrong either.

This combination is dangerous

Despite this, a coincidence has come to light which is not giving good signs. This has to do with Team India being at the first position in the points table. The thing is that this time the World Cup has been played in round-robin format. That is, the format in which each team plays one match each with the other teams. Then the top-4 teams play the semi-finals. Earlier this format was used in the 1992 and 2019 World Cups.

History is witness to the fact that on both the previous occasions when the World Cup was played in this format, the team that stood first in the points table could not win the title. In the World Cup 1992, New Zealand was at first place, while in 2019 Team India was at first place. Pakistan won the title in 1992, while England won it in 2019. This in itself is enough to cause tension. Not only this, in both the World Cups the table-topper teams had to face defeat in the semi-finals itself. Team India has already suffered such a defeat once. In such a situation, Indian fans would hope that this time history does not repeat itself.