Colombo, Feb 25: Sri Lanka could yet find themselves playing a T20 World Cup semi-final on home soil — but the final call will depend on a complex mix of qualification outcomes and opposition.
According to a communication circulated by the International Cricket Council to stakeholders after the Super Eight line-up was confirmed, the semi-final venues are subject to specific conditions that were not entirely clear in the tournament schedule released last November.
Under the revised clarification, the R. Premadasa Stadium will host a semi-final if Sri Lanka qualify and are drawn against any team other than India, provided Pakistan do not also reach the last four. In such a scenario, Colombo would stage the match instead of India.
However, the permutations grow more intricate from there.
The ICC has reaffirmed that if neither Sri Lanka nor Pakistan make the semi-finals, the original venue allocation remains intact: one semi-final in Kolkata and the other in Mumbai. India, if they advance, are slated to play in Mumbai regardless of opposition — except in the event of a high-profile clash against Pakistan. In that case, the fixture would be shifted to Colombo.