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Team India captain Rohit Sharma addressed the pre-match press conference ahead of the semifinal clash against England. The two teams are set to take on each other in the second semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2022 on 10 November at the Adelaide Oval. As the game holds massive importance for both teams with a final’s berth at stake, both teams will look to field the best playing XI.
Team India have refrained from making too many changes to their playing XI so far in the tournament. The captain-coach duo of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid only made two changes during the Super 12s. While Deepak Hooda replaced Axar Patel in the match against South Africa, Rishabh Pant was included in place of Dinesh Karthik against Zimbabwe.
While Hooda’s inclusion was a one-off, Pant’s inclusion seems to be a well-worked plan as indicated by Rohit Sharma during the pre-match press conference. Ahead of the semifinal clash against England, Rohit Sharma dropped a massive hint about India’s probable playing XI. When asked by one of the journalists if the management’s decision to include Pant was a one-time thing, Rohit said that they wanted to give the wicketkeeper-batter ample game time.
Sharma said that as Pant was the only player who had not got enough game time so far, he was included in the game against Zimbabwe. However, he did not rule out the fact that Pant can be in India’s Playing XI for semifinal. In fact, he said that India wanted a left-handed batter in the middle order to counter leg-spinners of New Zealand and England (as India’s opponents for semis were not decided before the Zimbabwe match).
“Rishabh was the only guy who did not play. So, we wanted to give him game time. That was the thought. We have told the guys that they have to be ready for it. We wanted to give the opportunity to left-handers against spinners in middle overs,” said Rohit in the press conference.
However, the Indian captain also said that this does not mean that Pant is confirmed to play against England. “What is going to happen tomorrow, I won’t be able to tell you now but I can confirm that both the wicketkeepers will be in play,” said Sharma leaving the suspense about India’s wicketkeeping choice for the semis.
