India Eye England in Second Semifinal

Providence (Guyana): Unbeaten India will try to shake off bad memories and make a big leap when they meet defending champions England in the second semifinal of the T20 World Cup at the Guyana National Stadium on Thursday morning.

Rohit Sharma & Co. had lost badly to England at the same stage of the Cup’s previous edition in 2022 at Adelaide, Australia. Chasing India’s 168 for 6 which was built on one-down bat Virat Kohli’s 50 and No.5 Hardik Pandya’s 63, England had cantered over the line with four overs to spare and all 10 wickets in hand courtesy an unbroken opening stand of 170 by Jos Buttler (80) and Alex Hales (86). Buttler is still the English captain and has a fair India of the Indians, thanks to his stints in the IPL.

Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya were part of that unsuccessful Indian bowling line-up but have since improved and are doing well in the current tournament. Arshdeep is the second highest wicket-taker with 15 to his credit. Axar has chipped in with the bat, ball and also in the field while Pandya has punched above his weight in batting as well as bowling departments.

With the Providence pitch likely to favour spinners, India could field an unchanged side. In case they decide to include leg-break bowler Yuzvendra Chahal, the axe might fall on Ravindra Jadeja, who is yet to make a mark at the event.

Ironically, both captains Rohit and Jos Buttler have scored identical runs — 191 from six innings — in the tournament and figure among the top 10 run-getters here. England’s Phil Salt follows them with 183 against his name. Then there are the explosive Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone up the English order.

Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav have done well with the bat and are second and third on the Indian batting chart. Kohli would be eager to get into form though. The opener has so far made 66 in six innings and sits sixth on India’s batting list here.

Pace ace Jasprit Bumrah and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav bolster India’s bowling attack. For England, seamers Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan have been among the wickets alongside leg-spinner Adil Rashid. They would also rely on Moeen Ali’s off-spin to make inroads into the rival batting line-up.

India go into the match with confidence, having comprehensively beaten ODI World Cup champions Australia by 24 runs in their last Super Eight match on Monday. England defeated USA by 10 wickets in theirs.

England are playing their fourth successive T20 World Cup semifinal while 2007 champions India have been runners-up in 2014 and made the semifinals in 2016 and 2022 in the tournament’s eight editions held so far.

In case of a washout — rain is predicted in Guyana — India will go through to Saturday’s final by virtue of finishing higher than England in the Super Eight stage. The Blues topped Group-1 while England qualified as the second-placed side from Group-2. That is because the second semi does not have a reserve day unlike the first one… scheduling snag for sure.