India and England will battle it out in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup at the Adelaide Oval for a place in the finals. Ahead of the all-important game, former England captain and cricketer Nasser Hussain has said that the Men in Blue have underperformed in recent ICC events.
The last time India competed in a final in this tournament was against Sri Lanka in 2014. They made it to the 2015 and 2019 World Cup semi-finals and the 2016 T20 World Cup. They failed to make it past the group stage in the previous edition.
In his column for the Daily Mail, he wrote, “You have to say they have underperformed in world tournaments. At times they have played some timid cricket with the bat for the players they have, and when working for Sky last summer, their former coach Ravi Shastri said that is something they have to change.”
“It will be interesting to see” – Nasser Hussain on India’s wicketkeeper dilemma
Nasser Hussain has also shared his opinion on the wicketkeeper problem that the team faces. He prefers Rishabh Pant to play over Dinesh Karthik in this tournament. Pant gives India an edge and can win games for them in the shortest format.
“India had been using Dinesh Karthik as their finisher, but Rishabh Pant was back against Zimbabwe in their final group game on Sunday and is a freakish player in his own right. It will be interesting to see how they go with their keeper-batsman against England,” he added.
“I would choose Pant because of the unbelievable things he can do. Ideally, India would want Hardik Pandya coming in after Pant for the last five overs because he is a serious hitter and gives them that extra bowling option,” Nasser Hussain continued.
India and England lifted this trophy once each in 2007 and 2010, respectively, and both teams will hope to lift this trophy again.
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