India-England Semi-final, Probable Playing XIs

India and England will face off in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup on Thursday. With the match set to be held in Mumbai, preparations in both camps are in the final stages. However, there is intense discussion surrounding India’s probable playing XI ahead of the crucial encounter.

The biggest question for India revolves around the opening position. Abhishek Sharma, who entered the tournament with a reputation as a destructive batter, has scored just 80 runs in six matches at an average of 13.33. Of those, 55 runs came in a single innings. His strike rate of 131.14 is also below his usual standard. As a result, the team management is deliberating whether to retain him in the XI.

Rinku Singh was left out of the previous match, and India have the option of promoting Ishan Kishan to open. He could partner wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson at the top of the order. Therefore, dropping Abhishek remains a possibility. However, Abhishek has a memorable record at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, where he smashed 135 off 54 balls at a strike rate of 250. Such numbers at the venue are certainly giving the selectors something to think about ahead of a high-stakes match.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting have both backed Abhishek to retain his place in the XI during a recent analysis. According to them, leaving out a potential match-winner in a semi-final could be a risky move.

India probable XI:

Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy.

England probable XI:

Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (c), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.