India faces England at Wankhede for a T20 World Cup final spot, their third straight semi-final meeting. After a 2022 loss led to a team revamp, India’s 2024 redemption win set the stage for this high-stakes clash between the two rivals.
Team India will clash with England for a spot in the ICC T20 World Cup final against New Zealand at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, making this the third successive time they are meeting each other in semis. A defeat at Adelaide back in 2022 caused Men in Blue to rethink their white-ball template and paved the way for young talent, while a win at Providence two years later marked a redemption for skipper Rohit Sharma, who went on to break the 11-year old trophy drought for India. Now, two of these teams, who have had imperfect campaigns so far, will be chasing perfection at iconic Wankhede, a venue which has witnessed history, heartbreak and records for years.
India vs England: T20 World Cup Head-to-Head
India holds a slight 3-2 advantage over England in T20 World Cups, let us look at the history between these two sides at the event:
T20 World Cup 2007: Yuvraj Singh’s record-breaking feat takes India to semis
Team India came into this match after a 10-wicket loss to New Zealand to start their Super Eight phase and needed to win this clash to have a shot at the semifinals. India won the toss and elected to bat first. A 136-run stand between Gautam Gambhir (58 in 41 balls, with seven fours and a six) and Virender Sehwag (68 in 52 balls, with four fours and three sixes) unleashed a brutal beating on England, but they sunk to 155/3. Later on, it was Yuvraj Singh (58* in 16 balls, with three fours and seven sixes) and MS Dhoni (10*), or rather, Yuvraj himself who went absolutely ballistic on Three Lions, hitting six sixes in Stuart Broad’s over to power India to 218/4, becoming the first Indian to hit six sixes in an over in international cricket.
Despite a 53-run stand between Darren Maddy (29 in 20 balls, with two fours and a six) and Vikram Solanki (43 in 31 balls, with five fours and a six) and knocks from Kevin Pietersen (39 in 23 balls, with three fours and a six) and skipper Paul Collingwood (28 in 20 balls, with two fours and a six), England was restricted to 200/6, with Irfan Pathan (3/37) and RP Singh (2/28) keeping India’s semis hopes alive. India went on to win the tournament.
T20 World Cup 2009: Sidebottom, Swann leave India three runs short, eliminate defending champions
India had won the inaugural tournament by beating Pakistan in the final at Johannesburg, but things were not as rosy in the 2009 edition in the UK. After a seven-wicket loss to West Indies in the Super Eights, Team India desperately needed a win to stay alive. India elected to field first and spells from Ravindra Jadeja (2/26) and Harbhajan Singh (3/30) restricted England to 153/7, with Kevin Pietersen (46 in 27 balls, with five fours and a six) and Ravi Bopara (37 in 37 balls, with three fours and a six) being the top scorers for England.
In the chase, India were down at 87/5, with Ryan Sidebottom (2/31) and Graeme Swann (2/28) proving too much for India to handle. Skipper MS Dhoni (30* in 20 balls, with three fours) and Yusuf Pathan (30* in 17 balls, with a four and two sixes) stitched a 63-run stand, but an earlier knock of 25 in 35 balls, with just one four by Jadeja, slowed India down and left them three runs short of what could have kept them alive in Super Eights. India crashed out of the phase winless, losing their final clash against South Africa by 12 runs. Sidebottom bowled the decisive over with 19 required, leaving India three runs short and winning the ‘Player of the Match’.
T20 World Cup 2012: Rohit’s fifty, Harbhajan’s four-fer seals India’s Super Eight spot
While Team India once again crashed out in the Super Eights in 2012, their outing against England at Colombo was one to cherish. England elected to field first. Knocks from Gautam Gambhir (45 in 38 balls, with five fours), Virat Kohli (40 in 32 balls, with six fours) gave India a fine start as India was 81/2 in 10.3 overs. However, it was Rohit’s explosive 33-ball 55* with five fours and a six which gave India the impetus they needed to reach 170/4.
In the chase of 171 runs, except for Craig Kieswetter (35 in 25 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes), the rest of England’s batting crumbled against Indian spin as Harbhajan (4/12) and Piyush Chawla (2/13) found a lot of help and joy bowling on the spin-friendly R Premadasa wicket, skittling out England for just 80 runs, sealing a confidence boosting win.
T20 World Cup 2022: Buttler-Hales mayhem causes Team India to rethink
England elected to field first in the semifinal, and just like it was for the majority of the tournament, India’s top-order crumbled, particularly KL Rahul (5) and Rohit Sharma (27 in 28 balls, with four boundaries), and Suryakumar Yadav (14) vanished without impact in another big match. While Virat Kohli (50 in 40 balls, with four boundaries and a six) continued his happy run at Adelaide, a venue which gave him plenty of Test cricket memories, it was Hardik Pandya’s 63 in 33 balls, with four boundaries and five sixes, which pushed India to a respectable 168/6, with Chris Jordan getting three wickets.
In the chase, Jos Buttler (80* in 49 balls, with seven fours and three sixes), Alex Hales (86 in 47 balls, with four boundaries and seven sixes) unleashed a brutal assault on Indian pacers and spinners alike and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin, some of India’s biggest match-winners were left searching for leather. India crashed out with a 10-wicket win, leaving Rohit teary-eyed and rethinking India’s white-ball mentality. While he and Virat did not feature in the T20Is leading up to the next World Cup, paving way for youngsters like Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma etc, by the time they returned for T20WC 2024 with Rohit once again at helm, the mantra was clear: Go hard or go home!
T20 World Cup 2024: Axar, Rohit avenge 2022 humiliation
Team India in the 2024 World Cup was a team to beat, a team on a mission. While Rohit Sharma grinned with a vengeful at every six he scored during his brutal 41-ball 92 against Australia in Super Eights, putting their one foot out the semis door following a loss at Ahmedabad during the 2023 WC final, he had something in store for the Englishmen who started the hurt at Adelaide two years back.
England elected to field first, and despite being restricted to 40/2 with Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant out for cheap, skipper Rohit (57 in 39 balls, with six fours and two sixes) and Suryakumar Yadav (47 in 36 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) stitched a 73-run stand which brought back India on track. A series of brief cameos from Hardik Pandya (23 in 13 balls, with a four and two sixes), Ravindra Jadeja (17* in nine balls, with two fours) and Axar Patel (10 in six balls with a six) took India to 171/7, with Jordan once again picking three wickets. During the chase, Axar (3/23) ate up the top-order, removing Jos Buttler, the skipper, Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow and sinking them to 46/4. Kuldeep Yadav (3/19) unleashed destruction on the middle-order as England helplessly crumbled to 103 all out. It was a moment of redemption for Team India, who made it to the title clash against South Africa and came out on top with a masterclass knock from Virat Kohli and a brilliant pace choke by Indian pacers, which kept the Proteas seven runs short of 177 runs. The tears shed by Rohit were not of sadness, but symbolised relief and an emotional release by (ANI)
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