India vs England T20 World Cup 2022 Semifinals Predicted 11: Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik both in fray, reveals Rohit Sharma

India vs England: Team India captain Rohit Sharma is keeping all his cards close to his chest when it comes to the playing XI for the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal against England at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday (November 10). The biggest talking point in the Indian batting line-up will be the wicketkeeper’s berth and it will be a toss up between Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik.

Pant finally came into the Indian playing XI after four Super 12 matches, replacing Karthik for the final game against Zimbabwe at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday (November 6). Captain Rohit revealed that the change was made to give Pant some game time before the semifinal stage as India were not aware of their opponent in the last-four stage by then.

“Pant didn’t get a hit in the middle since the practice games at Perth (against West Australia XI). We wanted to give him some game time and we have told all the guys from the beginning that they have to be ready,” Rohit Sharma said during the pre-match press conference in Adelaide on Wednesday (November 10).

A query that will only be answered tomorrow. We can keep guessing I feel. https://t.co/14WH2XAEaS — Nikhil (@CricCrazyNIKS) November 9, 2022

“It was also a tactical move because we wanted to give a left-handed batter a chance to tackle New Zealand and England spinners in the middle overs. Both Pant and DK (Dinesh Karthik) are in the fray to play tomorrow’s semifinal,” Rohit revealed.

India captain Rohit Sharma will also be wary about the different ground dimensions at the Adelaide Oval for their semifinal. Adelaide has smaller square boundaries which brings leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal into contention to play in place of possibly Axar Patel, who has been very expensive with ball so far.

“Australian ground dimension are a challenge for everyone. It is not easy for guys who have not player here before. But we have responded well to pressure of playing at different venues. Adelaide has smaller side boundaries which is different from the last match we played at Melbourne. But will use the experience we got from playing here against Bangladesh,” Rohit said.

India vs England T20 World Cup 2022 2nd Semifinal Predicted Playing XI

India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant/Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel/Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh

England: Jos Buttler (c), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan/Phil Salt, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood/Chris Jordan