Is it pure (bad) luck that Australia, SL and WI are slotted together in group playoffs for Super 8?
The answer is simple 'no'.
There are 12 teams competing in 2009 T20 World Cup. 9 of the 12 teams, including Bangladesh, are ICC full-members countries while remaining 3 (Ireland, Scotland and Netherlands) qualified through a qualifying tournament.
These 12 teams are divided in 4 groups of 3 each based on their seedings. As it is in other sports (like in Lawn Tennis Grand Slams), the teams are divided into groups based on their seedings. The seedings are based on inaugural T20 World Cup played in 2007. Top 4 seeded teams from 2007 World Cup are placed in separate groups. The next 4 seeded teams are placed in these same groups in the reverse order while the last 4 seeds are slotted based on similar logic. WI didn't win a single game in 2007 World Cup in group playoffs; by virtue of their poor performance they are seeded 11th.
2007 seedings and current groupings
Group A: 1-India, 8-Bangladesh, 9-Ireland
Group B: 2-Pakistan, 7-England, 10-Netherlands
Group C: 3-Australia, 6-SL, 11-WI
Group D: 4-NZ, 5-SA, 12-Scotland
So Australia and SL can blame WI for making it difficult for them at group stage. Or they can treat it as an opportunity in disguise; they will be better prepared for Super 8 if they qualify for it.
As for WI, I don't think they have a strong team to challenge either SL or Australia. Predictions, based on team strength can go wrong. As we have seen in 2007 World Cup and recently in IPL, in this format reputation does not matter; course of a match can change in couple of overs and a weak team can beat a potentially strong team. But the chances of WI losing at group stage look very strong.
And if WI lose again, they can look forward to anther group of death in next World Cup.Well! They can certainly blame themselves for 2007 debacle.
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