India will face England in the second semifinal of the T20 World Cup in Adelaide on Thursday. The winning team will meet Pakistan in the finals, and all eyes are on whether a India-Pakistan final will unfold.
India has had a strong run in the tournament so far, winning four out of their five matches in the Super 12s. The team's only loss was against South Africa, thereby emerging second in the group.
On the other hand, England had a tough run in the qualifying matches but managed to stave off an early exit by making a comeback defeating New Zealand and Sri Lanka. It's match against Australia got washed off.
Meanwhile, there are speculations on whether or not Rishab Pant will replace Dinesh Karthik, considering his great track record against England.
Indian batters too seem to be in good form as Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have fared well in the Super 12 matches. However, skipper Rohit Sharma has been struggling to get big scores. Bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh too have delivered impressive performances, but spinner Axar Patel is yet to prove his worth. Despite his poor form, Patel might keep his place in the team against England.
As for England, the team's strength is its batters. Their line-up is full of power-hitters right from the top, and this could give nightmares to Indian bowlers.
Buttler on Suryakumar Yadav
A free mindset has helped Suryakumar Yadav emerge as the "batter of the tournament" but it takes "one chance to create a wicket", said England captain Jos Buttler ahead of their T20 World Cup semifinal against India on Thursday.
Suryakumar has already scored three fifties in five games in the tournament and popular belief is that he has outshone the great Virat Kohli on certain occasions.
"He's been great to watch, hasn't he. I think he's someone who has probably been the batter of the tournament so far in terms of the way you want to watch someone go about it," Buttler told reporters on Wednesday.
"But as with any batsman in the world, it takes one chance to create a wicket. We desperately need to find a way to do that, he added.
Buttler, who has seen Suryakumar from close quarters in the IPL, thinks that his biggest asset is the freedom with which he expresses himself.
"His biggest strength looks to be the amount of freedom he plays with. He's obviously got all the shots but he allows himself to play all the shots, as well. He's got a very free mindset from what I can see," the England skipper said.
While praising Suryakumar, Buttler didn't forget to mention that his team can't afford to just think about him.
"It would be a remiss just to think about him. I think they have some other excellent players, as well."
(With inputs from PTI)
