As India and England prepare for a rematch of the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal, the memories of the one-sided 10-wicket triumph for Jos Buttler’s men could at best motivate them on paper when the two sides lock horns at the same stage of the 2024 edition of T20 cricket’s showpiece event in Guyana on Thursday.

In reality, an extra hour of rain in Antigua would have knocked England out in the first round of the ongoing ICC men’s T20 World Cup, and despite their progress to a fourth successive semi-final, they have still only beaten one Full Member side – West Indies – in this tournament

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In contrast, India have a 100 percent record in completed matches over the last three weeks and underlined their status as tournament favourites by beating Australia on Monday, a result which knocked the 50-over world champions out of the tournament.
England’s star all-rounder Moeen Ali candidly admitted that England will have to be at their best to beat India in the 2024 T20 World Cup semifinal and hopes to take the positives from the 2022 tournament to Guyana on Thursday.

“They’re just a brilliant side. They’ve got everything covered, so we’re going to have to be at our best to beat them. I’m looking forward to it, actually: it’s a great challenge, similar to the last time we played them in the semi-final in Australia. It’s going to be a challenge, and we’re going to have to plan and play really well,” Ali said.

Moeen described England’s World Cup campaign as “a rollercoaster ride.” A rained-off match against Scotland was followed by a loss to Australia right at the start of their campaign, leaving them needing huge wins and favours from elsewhere to reach the Super Eights. But they managed just that, qualifying ahead of Scotland on Net Run Rate.

And in the Super Eight, a loss to South Africa meant England were sweating somewhat, despite already having comfortably beaten hosts West Indies. That win, and the nature of it, proved important, giving them a significant Net Run Rate advantage that they boosted further with a hammering of the USA to effectively qualify with a game to spare. South Africa’s victory over the West Indies consigned them to second spot in the group, sending them to this semi-final rather than being the top seed in semi-final 1.

But despite being the first team to qualify for the semi-finals after securing their progress with a 10-wicket win over USA at Kensington Oval, England’s semi-final venue was confirmed only on Monday after India beat Australia in St Lucia, and they arrived in Georgetown on a charter flight on Tuesday morning. India flew on Monday night.

For the English team, who hasn’t played at the Providence Stadium since the 2010 edition of the T20 World Cup, the venue could turn out to be unfamiliar territory for them in comparison to the Adelaide Oval two years back. As far as India is concerned, a young team played a couple of T20Is at the venue last August, while some also featured in a T20I back in 2019. Thus, adaptability could be a factor for both teams, more specially for England.

“I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard it’s an amazing place. You can expect some sort of spin and a tough-ish wicket,” Moeen said.

Team composition

Given the nature of the wicket in Guyana, it is quite likely that India will continue with the settled side that played throughout their Super Eight campaign during which the Men-in-Blue added Kuldeep Yadav in place of Mohammed Siraj from the team who dominated the Group Stage.

It is quite likely they will continue with that exact balance, given it offers six frontline bowling options, with three pacers and three spinners. The only possible change, given the expected nature of the Guyana surface, is that Yuzvendra Chahal could be added for another spinning threat but it will be interesting to see if that comes at the cost of a Shivam Dube or Ravindra Jadeja, given the fact that Dube hasn’t been used and Jadeja hasn’t been as effective.

England moved away from the batting-heavy balance that they started the tournament with, leaving out Will Jacks and playing four front-line pace bowlers, with Sam Curran and Chris Jordan slotting in at seven and eight to avoid an excessively lengthy tail, and Mark Wood missing out.

There could be the option of bringing Jacks back as a part-time spin option, or even handing a debut to Tom Hartley who is in the squad as an additional main spinner. But England do have Moeen and Liam Livingstone in their top six, both of whom have bowled well when called upon, so may opt to stick with the formula that got them through the Super Eight.

Semifinal playing conditions

Unlike the first semifinal in Trinidad, which will be played between Afghanistan and South Africa, there is no reserve day scheduled for India vs England semi-final match. For the first semifinal, 60 minutes will be available at the end of the day’s play. But for the second semi-final between India and England, the organisers have allotted 250 minutes of additional time in case of rain interruption.

However, if rain completely washes out the match without a single ball being bowled or no result is possible even after using the additional time, India will advance to the final. This is due to their superior performance in the ‘Super 8s’ stage, where they topped Group 1 by winning all three of their matches against Australia, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. England finished second in Group 1, which was topped by South Africa.

In the event of a tie in a semifinal, the teams will compete in a Super Over to determine which team progresses to the final. If weather conditions prevent the completion of the Super Over, or if the match is abandoned or results in no result, the team that finished first in its Second Round Group will advance to the final.

For the semifinals and final, a minimum of 10 overs must be bowled to the side batting second, unless a result is achieved earlier. The final is scheduled for June 29, with a reserve day on June 30.