The last encounter between India and England in a Men's T20 World Cup semi-final took place just 19 months ago in Adelaide. In that match, a phenomenal opening partnership between Jos Buttler and Alex Hales led England to a dominant victory, prompting India to completely rethink their T20 strategy.
This time around, India boasts more batting firepower, a variety of options for the middle overs, and greater variation in their attack. What stands out is India's unique opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. As the high-octane clash is set to unfold in a few hours, let's look at how both star batters have performed in T20 World Cup knockout matches over the years.
Rohit Sharma will need to lead from the front when India faces England in the T20 World Cup 2024 semifinal set to be played at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Thursday.
Coming into this game, Rohit will take a lot of confidence from his previous knock of 92 against Australia. He¡¯s India¡¯s highest run-getter so far in this tournament with 191 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 159.16.
While Rohit has been a prolific opening batter for India, he hasn¡¯t had his best returns whenever he has batted in T20 World Cup knockout matches in the past.
The opening batter has a best score of 43 off 31 balls during this stage of the tournament which came against West Indies during the 2016 semifinal in Mumbai.
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Virat Kohli has been a premier batter for India in T20 World Cup history and will once again play an important role during the semifinal clash against England at Providence Stadium in Guyana on Thursday.
While Kohli¡¯s performance in the T20 World Cup 2024 edition has been poor so far, with 66 runs in six matches (including two ducks) at a strike rate of 100, his stats in the knockout stage of the tournament in the past will give him a confidence boost going into the game.
In the four knockout matches Kohli has been part of, he has scored a fifty in each of the innings. His best score of 89 at this stage came against West Indies in the 2016 semifinal.
His last outing in a knockout match was in a semifinal against England in 2022 in Adelaide where Kohli scored 50 runs in 40 balls.
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