India and England have taken contrasting routes to reach the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, thus setting up a repeat of the 2022 edition in Australia where Jos Buttler’s team emerged triumphant by 10 wickets en route to winning the title.
India won three in a row in New York, then looked on as their one game in Florida was washed out before a ball was bowled. Having topped their group, Rohit Sharma’s team then beat Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Australia to secure a final four spot.
Their batting has been hit or miss, but despite five half-centuries from three players, they have managed to put up winning totals and chase targets to remain one of two unbeaten teams in this World Cup. The sudden jolt that Rohit provided in the last game against Australia, where he smashed 92 off 41 balls including taking 29 runs off one Mitchell Starc over, may have sent warning bells ringing in the England camp. And they will also fear that Virat Kohli, who averages 11 at a strike-rate of 100 this tournament, might similarly rose himself for the semi-final.
And yet more than a more aggressive batting order than what England faced when they met India in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final, it is the much-improved Indian bowling that poses a bigger threat. This bowling ensemble, led by Jasprit Bumrah, has overall been excellent with Arshdeep Singh’s 15 wickets and seven from Kuldeep Yadav, who only got his chances in round two, playing a big role. And let it not be forgotten that Bumrah was not there in 2022 when Buttler and Alex Hales chased 169 in a furious hurry.
England have endured their share of rain in the tournament. They began with a rained-off match against Scotland in Barbados which, after a loss to Australia, left them staring at elimination from the World Cup before the defending champions rebounded to make the Super Eight round.
They demolished Oman for 47 and then knocked off their target in just 19 deliveries, thus getting their net run-rate above Scotland’s. Next, they beat Namibia by 41 runs on DLS after staring at another washout. Still, England were reliant on Australia defeating Scotland to get them into the Super Eight. In round two, England defeated West Indies by eight wickets, lost to South Africa by seven runs and then thumped USA by 10 wickets.
And it could be that rain has the final word in Guyana on Thursday. The forecast for Guyana, as of Wednesday, is for “thunder showers changing to heavy showers by late morning” with a 60 per cent chance of rain predicted. The second semi-final does not have a reserve day – unlike for the first one between South Africa and Afghanistan – although an additional 250 minutes are available to try and get the match done on the same day.
If the match is not completed, India will go through to the final by virtue of topping their Super Eight group.
It can validly be argued that having two rules for two semi-finals is far from ideal. It was pre-determined that should India make it to the semi-finals, they would play in the second fixture given it was slotted in for the best time for the Indian audience (8pm IST). India are the only team left that have not had to play a match at the scheduled time of the first semi-final (6am IST) which many others have played during the first two rounds.
India are unlikely to make changes to their 11, even though the lure of playing a second wrist-spinner in Yuzvendra Chahal will be great. But that would mean dropping Ravindra Jadeja, whose presence in the team, despite having a very poor tournament, gives the impression that India bat deep.
England too do not look like tinkering with their team, which means four pacers and three spin options.
India likely 11: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rishabh Pant (wk), 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
England likely 11: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt/wk), 3 Jonny Bairstow, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley
