No secrets between India and England ahead of T20 World Cup semifinal, says Sam Curran
MUMBAI: Set for a third consecutive semifinal clash at the T20 World Cup, India and England will have no secrets to spring on each other, England allrounder Sam Curran said on Tuesday, expressing hope that his side can deliver a "perfect game" after a topsy turvy campaign.
India and England have won one semifinal each in their previous two meetings at this stage and both went on to lift the T20 World Cup title. England clinched the trophy after crushing India by 10 wickets in the 2022 edition, while India claimed their second title in 2024 following a 78 run win.
"It's just nice having played at the ground many times, so there's not many unknowns for us," Curran told reporters ahead of England's training session at the Wankhede Stadium.
"We've got two days training now, so we'll get used to the surroundings, the change room and the dimensions of the ground. You play at these stadiums so much, you get used to different conditions. The crowd, the opposition, we play a lot with the Indian guys, so there's going to be no secrets in terms of what each team will probably throw at each other," he added.
England have endured their share of ups and downs in the tournament, including a nervy four run win over Nepal. In the Super Eight stage, their two wicket victory over Pakistan was largely thanks to the individual brilliance of Harry Brook, who struck a hundred.
"It doesn't really matter now; it comes down to the World Cup semifinal. If there's ever a time we want to play our perfect game, it's probably Thursday night," Curran said.
"We've all been chipping in at different times but we know in T20 cricket it probably just takes a couple of our guys to come good with the bat and good with the ball."
The Wankhede is expected to be packed in support of India on Thursday and Curran acknowledged the atmosphere in what is likely to be a high scoring contest.
"It's a fantastic stadium, obviously very iconic. I'm sure it's going to be very quiet on Thursday night," Curran said with a smile.
"As a young cricketer, you dream of playing India in a semifinal of the World Cup. It's normally a pretty good wicket, small ground, so I'm probably expecting a really high scoring game," he added.
Despite India's confident campaign so far, Curran said England would not be intimidated.
"India are a quality side, but we've played a lot of cricket here. Most of our players have featured in the IPL and against India. We're not fearing anything and I'm sure both teams are really excited by the challenge of Thursday night and hopefully, the perfect game for us happens," he said.
Three of the four semifinalists in this edition are from outside the Indian subcontinent and Curran attributed that to adaptability.
"This tournament for us has been a little bit of a challenge in terms of how we've come across so many different conditions, playing in Sri Lanka and obviously a couple of games here and in Kolkata," Curran said.
"We've adapted extremely well. You'd probably say that the non subcontinental teams have adapted really well to the conditions thrown at them. All of us play a lot of cricket in India now, so we know how to play on these grounds and we know what to expect and the IPL, no question, has helped a lot with the players. South Africa, New Zealand are fantastic teams and we're a really good team as well. And of course, India. I think probably the four best teams are in the semifinals and we'll see who takes that trophy," Curran added.
It was at the Wankhede Stadium in February last year when India and England met in a T20I, a contest remembered for world No. 1 Abhishek Sharma's 54 ball 135, which included 13 sixes and seven boundaries.
As pressure mounts on a currently struggling Abhishek, Curran hoped history would not repeat itself.
"I do hope Abhishek doesn't have the same knock again. We're very well planned for the game and we keep the focus on Thursday night," Curran added.