An unchanged India will bat first after losing the toss against England at the T20 World Cup semifinal at the Adelaide Oval. Moreover, Rohit Sharma has confirmed that they are going with an unchanged side which means Rishabh Pant is all set to play. He made his first appearance at the last Super 12 match against Zimbabwe and unchanged means he stays on. Meanwhile, England have made a couple of changes as Mark Wood has been ruled out.
After Buttler won the toss, he opted to bowl first, nevertheless, Rohit said he wanted to bat first in a pressure game.
Teams:
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
England (Playing XI): Jos Buttler(w/c), Alex Hales, Philip Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid
Rohit Sharma: We would have batted first anyway. We’ve played some good cricket, another opportunity for us to play the same way we have all tournament. Important to hold the nerve and take the game till the end. We’ve played these guys a fair bit in recent years and know what strengths-weaknesses they have. Important to exploit that. Important to stay calm and do what we want to do. It (injury) was a scare but I’m fine now. The kind of talent we have, it was a tough one (to pick the XI). Same team for us.
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Jos Buttler: We’re gonna bowl first. There is going to be a great atmosphere here. Dimensions are different, we will have to adapt. We have two changes – Malan and Wood are out with injuries – Salt and Jordan come in. Looks a good wicket. Hope it stays well the whole game.
Earlier former chairman of selectors MSK Prasad feels the Indian team management will find it “difficult and tricky” to make the right choice between Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik in their T20 World Cup semifinal against England in Adelaide on Thursday.
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Barring last match against Zimbabwe, India have played Karthik ahead of Pant in the ongoing showpiece.
However, Karthik hasn’t fired in his role of a designated finisher, while Pant too failed to impress in the chances that he has got so far in T20Is.
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“The key debate or issue on Thursday will be what the captain and coach want in their playing XI. If they want a left-hander in the top order to unsettle England they might go for Pant as he is a great option. But if they want a finisher they might consider Karthik for the job,” Prasad told PTI in an interview.
“Definitely, this is the only debate or issue before the team. It will be interesting to see who finally gets the nod. The rest of the team I am sure will remain the same.”
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