T20 WC semis: India seek revenge against England
New Delhi: It will be a rematch of the semifinal from the 2022 edition of the tournament as a red-hot Team India will meet England in the second semifinal of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup at Guyana on Thursday.
The last time these two nations faced off in a Men's T20 World Cup semi-final was just 19 months ago in Adelaide, when a remarkable opening partnership between Jos Buttler and Alex Hales saw England cruise to 10 wicket win that forced a complete rethink in India's T20 strategy and move away from more established superstars to younger blood, from conservatism to aggression.
This time around, though, India has more batting firepower led by experienced campaigners skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, more attacking options through the middle overs, and more variation in their attack, but the defending champions will take some beating, especially with skipper Jos Buttler and his new opening partner Phil Salt both in blistering form.
England is just two games away from making history and becoming the first men's team to retain a T20 World Cup, as per ICC.
On the other hand, India has not won this tournament since its inception back in 2007, and is searching for its first World Cup win in any format since 2011's 50-over tournament.
India's last ICC trophy was in 2013, when they captured the ICC Champions Trophy in England.
The Guyana National Stadium is a 20,000-seater venue on the outskirts of Georgetown, situated just off the banks of the Demerara River and a few kilometres from the coast.
India has won every game they have been able to compete in, with the only dropped points coming from the abandoned fixture against Canada at a rain-soaked Lauderhill in Florida.
Impressive wins over Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Australia secured their spot in the knockout stages as the winners of Group One in the Super Eight.
England, by contrast, have got here the hard way. A rained-off match against Scotland was followed by a loss to arch-rivals Australia right at the start of their campaign, leaving them needing huge wins and favours from elsewhere to reach the Super Eights. But they managed just that, qualifying ahead of Scotland on net run rate, interestingly, thanks to their rivals, Australia.
(ANI)
