MUMBAI: A little over five hours before the toss was supposed to happen, the streets around Church Gate station were buzzing. Several fans, donning India’s replica jerseys, were moving around, having coffees, gearing up for the all-important India versus England semifinal. And vox-pop videos were being made by television and YouTube channels. It was the kind of evening where all roads in Mumbai leading to Wankhede seemed appropriate.
Around 4pm, fans had already started to filter in to find their seats. The first thing to notice once you step in is the surface for the T20 World Cup semifinal. And the red soil pitch looked different, at least in a comparative sense, from how it was 24 hours ago. A fair bit of grass seemed to have been trimmed — there was still some grass cover left — on the surface that had been used for West Indies versus England and Italy-Nepal contests before in this World Cup.
And it was immediately noted by India head coach Gautam Gambhir, who came down the stairs and walked to the pitch, had a chat with Phil Salt at the crease — who was doing batting simulations — and the curators. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav too did the same as he walked with gloves on and a bat to have a hit.
India know what is at stake — a place in the home T20 World Cup final. They also know a lot of things have to go India’s way from 6.30 PM onwards. In the minutes that followed, all five main bowlers of India had marked their run-up — Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya — in that order. There were doubts over whether Washington Sundar or Rinku Singh might come in potentially for Axar Patel. Both Washington and Rinku had extensive batting sessions both on Tuesday night and during the optional training on the eve of the match.
And Surya put it all to rest at the toss as his English counterpart Harry Brook won the toss to bowl first against the co-hosts.
Throughout this World Cup, Surya and his men have been chasing the perfect game. One where every single aspect of their playing XI comes good. They came close to playing one in Chennai against Zimbabwe, but Zimbabwe batters had a day out despite falling short in the end. If there ever was a stage and an opponent who requires a perfect game, it is England in the semifinal.
Bowling coach Morne Morkel hoped for the same on the eve of the match. “I think the quality of this team has shown that on the day somebody can put their hand up and put up a performance. Hopefully, in the last two games, especially tomorrow night, we can put that special performance in. All we can do is work hard at training. Unfortunately, we all know how the game goes; success is never guaranteed, but if we can give ourselves the best chance to go out and perform, that is what we strive for. A big occasion tomorrow night here, the semi-final, a great stadium to play a great game of cricket, so hopefully the boys can rock up tomorrow and just be calm and execute those skills,” Morkel had said on Wednesday.
Can they? The next few hours will tell
