England's 10-wicket thrashing of India in the last edition's semifinal is attributed to the dynamic opening duo of Alex Hales and skipper Jos Buttler who stitched an unbeaten 170-run partnership in just 16 overs to knock Rohit Sharma's men out of the competition. However, at closer look, a different picture emerges.
India's score of 168/6 was clearly way under-par and the credit for that should go to Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone, the two English spinners.
Rashid, the leggie, gave away just 20 runs in his four overs and took the all-important wicket of Suryakumar Yadav. His partner Livingstone who can bowl leg-spin and off-spin at will also had a miserly outing giving just 21 runs in his three overs. The lack of runs against England spinners hurt India massively.
The duo of Rashid and Livingstone alongside Moeen Ali form the spin trio of England that will aim to repeat their last semifinal's exceptional performance again on a spin-friendly deck in Guyana.
India have Rishabh Pant and Shivam Dube in their ranks this time to take on the spinners. Can the new additions give India a boost against Rashid and co and help them turn the tables? It will be a crucial factor in the match.
England had chased down a below-par total in the semifinal in Adelaide two years ago but in Guyana batting will be a different ball game.
The English top order has four right-handers and India have two left-arm spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. On a pitch helpful for spinners, tackling the duo of Jadeja and Axar for an all-right handed top-order will be a mammoth task. And England know that. They might push Moeen Ali to bring in a left hander, but then India have another trump card. Kuldeep Yadav.
Kuldeep has looked in fine form and his left-arm wrist spin has troubled batters throughout the Super 8 stage. In Guyana, he could be a real headache for the famed England batting line-up.
Indian batters vs Rashid, Livingstone, Moeen and English batters vs Kuldeep, Axar, Jadeja. Batters of both sides will be on trial by spin and the ones who come out of it triumphant will be going to Barbados to meet South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024.
