Michael Vaughan Criticizes Scheduling After Afghanistan’s Loss in T20 World Cup Semifinals

Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan has blamed the ‘India-centric’ scheduling for Afghanistan’s poor performance in the ICC T20 World Cup semifinals against South Africa. Afghanistan’s batting lineup collapsed, scoring only 56 runs due to strong bowling from South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, and Tabraiz Shamsi.

Vaughan highlighted that Afghanistan faced a flight delay to Trinidad, leaving them no time to practice or get used to the new venue. He called this an ‘utter lack of respect to players.’ Afghanistan had reached the semifinals after defeating Bangladesh.

Vaughan tweeted, ‘So Afghanistan qualified for the WC semi, winning in St Vincent on Monday night .. 4 hr flight delay on Tues to Trinidad so no time to practice or get accustomed to a new venue .. utter lack of respect to players, I am afraid.’

He also criticized the scheduling, saying it was unfair and geared towards India. Vaughan suggested that South Africa and Afghanistan should have played in Guyana, while India and England should have played the first semifinal at night.

India and England are set to face off in the second semifinal in Guyana. The last time these teams met in a T20 World Cup semifinal, England won convincingly. This time, India has a stronger lineup with experienced players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, while England aims to become the first men’s team to retain a T20 World Cup.

India’s squad includes Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj.

England’s squad includes Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, and Mark Wood.