It is crunch time in the 2024 T20 World Cup. It is the semi-finals and it is India vs England - it does not get bigger than this! England defeated India in a thrashing in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final in Adelaide and the Indian players are still hurting from that loss. Will India take revenge for what happened Down Under two years ago? Will India send the defending champions packing in the marquee encounter on Thursday in Guyana?

India are the team to beat in the tournament. They haven't lost a single match thus far and have most of their big-guns firing. England has not been at its best but somehow managed to scrape through to the semis. They were beaten by Australia in the group stage and also lost to South Africa in the Super 8.

HEADER: LAST 5 MATCHES

INDIA - WAWWW

ENGLAND - WWWLW

THE LIKELY PLAYING XIs FOR INDIA & ENGLAND

It will be interesting to see if India make any changes to their winning combination and if they play an extra seamer in Mohammed Siraj given the helpful conditions for pacers in Guyana. It is unlikely though as they would not want to break the momentum and Kuldeep has been in fine form. England might also make one change - they may rope in Mark Wood for his extra pace. Moeen Ali should sit out.

THE LIKELY PLAYING XIs FOR INDIA & ENGLAND

India likely XI

Batters - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav

All-Rounders - Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube

Wicketkeeper - Rishabh Pant

Bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav

England likely XI

Batters - Phil Salt, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook

All-rounders - Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran

Wicketkeeper - Jos Buttler

Bowlers - Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, Reece Topley, Mark Wood

Statistical Performance (India)

1. ROHIT SHARMA

Rohit Sharma smashed one of the greatest innings in T20 World Cup history against Australia and will be key for India at the top of the order in the powerplay. Rohit has a fine record in T20 World Cups.

ROHIT SHARMA IN T20 WORLD CUPS

2. JASPRIT BUMRAH

Jasprit Bumrah is in red-hot form with the new ball and could be devastating on a pace-friendly wicket at Guyana. Bumrah is widely regarded as the best white-ball bowler in the world.

JASPRIT BUMRAH IN 2024 T20 WORLD CUP

Players who can make a difference (India)

1. Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav showed his class with a couple of fifties against the USA and Afghanistan and will be key in the middle-order for India. His 360 degrees batting and unconventional stroke-play behind square make him a dangerous batter especially on the smaller venues in the Caribbean.

2. Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant's unorthodox stroke-play makes him a match-winner against any opposition. He has been in fine form in the tournament scoring 167 runs in six innings in difficult batting conditions. Pant's promotion to number 3 has been a brilliant move by India.

Statistical Performance (England)

1. HARRY BROOK

Harry Brook has been in fine form in the tournament and scored 120 runs in 3 matches. He has had a great beginning to his T20I career with an aggregate of 682 runs at an average of 31 and strike rate of close to 147!

HARRY BROOK IN T20Is

2. JOFRA ARCHER

Jofra Archer's ability to extract extra bounce off a good length will make him a very awkward customer especially in bowler friendly conditions in Guyana. He also has a good economy rate in T20I cricket.

JOFRA ARCHER IN T20Is

Players who can make a difference (England)

1. Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler will be the mainstay of the England batting line-up. He has been in fine form and has the most runs for his country in the tournament. Buttler has scored 191 runs in 6 innings at an average of 47.75 and strike rate of 159.2. He has a phenomenal record in T20 World Cups.

2. Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow showed glimpses of his batting prowess against the West Indies but has otherwise had a quiet tournament. He has a strike rate of 137 against spin and 138 against pace in T20I cricket.

Team Head to Head

India and England have had a neck to neck battle in T20I cricket. India has the edge and have won 12 encounters while England have been victorious in 11. The rivalry is tied at 2-2 in T20 World Cups.

MATCHES INDIA WON ENGLAND WON NO RESULT

T20 WORLD CUPS 4 2 2 0

LAST 5 T20Is 5 3 2 0

ALL T20Is 23 12 11 0

Player Match-Ups

1. ROHIT SHARMA vs CHRIS JORDAN IN T20Is

INNINGS - 4

BALLS FACED - 33

RUNS SCORED - 54

WICKETS - 1

2. VIRAT KOHLI vs ADIL RASHID IN T20Is

INNINGS - 9

BALLS FACED - 68

RUNS SCORED - 72

WICKETS - 2

3. JOS BUTTLER vs JASPRIT BUMRAH IN T20Is

INNINGS - 3

BALLS FACED - 10

RUNS SCORED - 3

WICKETS - 2

Venue and Pitch

The Guyana National Stadium at Providence in Guyana has hosted five matches in the tournament with the team batting first winning three matches. It is interesting then that the captain who has won the toss has elected to field on four occasions. The probability of winning the match after winning the toss at Guyana is 60%. The average score batting first in the tournament is 146/7 while the average score chasing is just 77/8.

The Guyana National Stadium has the best bowling strike rate (14.2) amongst all venues in the 2024 World Cup will assist seamers and spinners both. While the pacers have picked 63.4% of the wickets at a brilliant average of 14.7 and economy of 6.4, spinners have also done well at Guyana with an average of 14.5 and economy of 5.5.

The weather does not look very promising though for Thursday. There is a 70% chance of rain in Guyana.

Match Prediction

This is a grudge match for India. They have not forgotten Adelaide 2022. Both the teams have a very strong batting line-up but India have a stronger bowling brigade. There is a high chance of rain in Guyana on Thursday which makes the match quite unpredictable. Based on the relative strength of both teams, India start marginal favourites with a 55% chance of victory.

Fantasy XI

And finally, this is our Fantasy XI for the India vs England encounter. We have 6 players from India and 5 from England. Kohli is not a part of our Fantasy XI - he is not in good form and will save a a lot of fantasy points. Rohit and Buttler will open the innings of our team while Bairstow, SKY and Brook will be part of the middle-order. The new ball will be shared by Bumrah and Jordan while Kuldeep and Axar will control the middle-overs. Bumrah will be the fantasy XI captain while Brook the vice-captain.

Our backup players include KOHLI as batter, MOHAMMED SIRAJ as bowler and MOEEN ALI as all-rounder.

Fantasy XI

Wicketkeeper: JOS BUTTLER

Batters: JONNY BAIRSTOW, ROHIT SHARMA, SURYAKUMAR YADAV, HARRY BROOK (VC)

All-rounders: HARDIK PANDYA, SAM CURRAN, AXAR PATEL

Bowlers: JASPRIT BUMRAH (C), CHRIS JORDAN, KULDEEP YADAV

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER - VIRAT KOHLI

BOWLER - MOHAMMED SIRAJ

ALL-ROUNDER - MOEEN ALI

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