India are ready to try and defend their T20 World Cup title, playing themselves into a lot of confidence with a terrific chase against the West Indies to qualify to the semifinals. Here, they face England, going head to head at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai for a spot in the finals.
India likely are slight favourites heading into the match, with home conditions and the T20 expertise in their favour. With all things being equal, on the quality front, things are neck and neck – which means a big part of the game might come down to the conditions and the toss.
Part of this will be the consideration of dew at the Wankhede. As the days grow steadily warmer, dew could end up playing an oversized role compared to the slightly more baked surfaces earlier in the day. The Wankhede has always been a location that has supported big-hitting – but it is likely to be even moreso the case for the team batting second, as pointed out by Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel.
“I think dew is always a big concern. But that’s again something you can’t control: the toss. I think at Wankhede there’s always that extra bit of bounce,” explained Morkel regarding the Wankhede surface.
“Guys can trust the bounce and lead through the line that can also, as a bowler, bring you into the game. I just felt or feel that the margins here are a lot smaller. The ball travels; it’s quite a small ground,” he explained.
‘Competing for every ball…’
India have had a few struggles on stickier and more spin-friendly pitches through the first half of the innings. However, the batting has slowly come into its own – particularly in the game against the Windies, where Sanju Samson played himself into form and the team chased down 195 with confidence.
With that in mind, it will be a similar message to the Indian team – don’t lose the small things in pursuit of the larger picture, and treat the semifinal in bitesize pieces.
“So you just need to be really fighting that over, staying in the moment and competing for every ball. Because, as I said, a batter’s strength can also be his weakness on the surface. So it’s sometimes not to go too defensive and keep on attacking because opportunities can come,” explained Morkel.
India will hope to chase against an England team that has shown themselves capable of changing difficult totals, doing so in back-to-back games against Pakistan and New Zealand on tricky surfaces. Making their own move back to Wankhede, where they have played a handful of games this tournament, the surface could end up playing a big role.
