IND vs ENG LIVE: India, England battle for final berth; winner to face New Zealand

Hello and welcome to the Live coverage of the ICC T20 World Cup semifinal clash between India and England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Having not exactly sailed into the T20 World Cup semi-finals, India must now negotiate a potent spin threat from a dangerous England side as both teams chase perfection in Thursday's high-pressure knockout at the Wankhede Stadium.

Overwhelming favourites at the start of the tournament, India have not been able to stitch together a complete performance against stronger sides in the competition.

However, they have responded well by adopting a flexible approach after the heavy defeat against South Africa in their Super 8 opener.

Sanju Samson was brought back into the side to break the predictability of a left-handed top three in the powerplay, and the move has worked brilliantly.

More than 10 years after his India debut, Samson finally delivered on the big stage with a career-defining 97 not out in a virtual quarter-final against the West Indies.

The 31-year-old’s confidence must be sky-high after that special effort, and India will hope it rubs off on his opening partner Abhishek Sharma.

Such are the ways of the game that Abhishek came into the ICC event in the form of his life, while Samson had been dropped from the playing XI after a dismal run against New Zealand in the bilateral series.

The tables have now turned, and Abhishek is in desperate need of a confidence-boosting innings. The southpaw did score a fifty against Zimbabwe in the Super 8 but remains far from his ballistic best.

England will have their plans ready for the two openers. Expect a barrage of short balls into the body from Jofra Archer to test Samson, who has struggled against the England tearaway in the past, while Will Jacks could trouble Sharma with his off-spin in the powerplay.

Left-arm spinner Liam Dawson has also bowled in the first six overs, while the hosts will need to be at their best against the wily Adil Rashid in the middle overs. The openers and the rest of the Indian batters kept all these challenges in mind during a three-hour practice session on Tuesday.

Ishan Kishan has gone off the boil after a sensational start to the tournament and will be backing himself to fire at his former IPL home ground.

The same goes for the current Mumbai Indians stars in the national team – captain Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya – who batted for more than two hours in the main net session ahead of the semifinal.

Having been moved down the order to help the team’s cause, Tilak has impressed with his ball-striking in the middle order, after struggling to find the same fluency at number three earlier in the competition.

At a ground with short boundaries, the spin duo of Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy will have no room for error. The mystery spinner, in particular, needs to find his lengths consistently after proving a tad expensive against the West Indies and South Africa.

Jasprit Bumrah has been phenomenal as usual, but the bowlers will need to improve slightly in the last five overs. It will be interesting to see how Surya manages his resources, especially with Shivam Dube proving to be a risky sixth bowling option.

Playing Kuldeep Yadav is always a tempting prospect, but India are unlikely to tinker with their playing XI.

India played their tournament opener here a month ago and were troubled by the medium pace of Shadley van Schalkwyk on a two-paced surface.

The pitch reserved for the semifinal has been used twice in the tournament – when West Indies defended 196 against England and Italy cruised to a 10-wicket win over Nepal after bowling them out for 123.

Both India and England find themselves facing each other for the third T20 World Cup semifinal in a row. England hammered India on their way to the title in 2022 before the latter got their revenge in Guyana in 2024.

In the latest edition, England have relied on the individual brilliance of Harry Brook and Jacks to bail them out of tricky situations. All-rounder Sam Curran too has played his part well.

The focus has been on out-of-form Jos Buttler heading into the contest, and it remains to be seen if the England white-ball great can regain his rhythm in a crunch game.

The sides know each other well and, as Curran said on Tuesday, there will be no secrets between them.

Reflecting on England’s up-and-down run so far, Curran offered a pragmatic view.

"It doesn't really matter now; it comes down to the World Cup semifinal. If there's ever a time we want to play our perfect game, it's probably Thursday night," he said.

Teams:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

England: Harry Brook (c), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, Luke Wood.