Guyana (West Indies), June 27: As India take on England in the second semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 on Thursday, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes Rohit Sharma's men are capable of sending the reigning world champions home.
In 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal in Adelaide, India were completely outplayed by the aggressive English batters.
Skipper Jos Buttler and his opening partner Alex Hales hammered Indian bowlers all round the park. India lost badly and were ousted from the tournament.
In 2022 semifinal, India had scored 168/6 in 20 overs. But England achieved the target in just 16 overs (170/0), with Jos Buttler's unbeaten 80 and Alex Hales scoring 86 not out.
But Manjrekar believes, in the last two years since the Adelaide game, Team India has changed a lot. They too have an aggressive approach and go all out at the opposition.
On the contrary, England appears beat vulnerable in this editing of the World Cup than what they were in 2022. They are yet to get their team balance right, though they have managed to enter the semi-finals.
Former India wicket-keeper batsman Deep Dasgupta too believes, Team India with their horses for courses approach are a more dangerous side now and can very well beat Jos Buttler & Co.
However, Dasgupta also wants India to come good at the crunch knockout games. India have been playing World Cup semifinals regularly, but they have been losing out in the knockout stages, which must stop, he feels.
If India were edged out by England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal, then in ODI World Cup 2023, Australia batted out hosts India in Ahmedabad to lift the trophy.
Dasgupta hopes India maintain their momentum and play with the same killer instinct as in the league games and win knockout matches more consistently.
On the contrary, Manjrekar is optimistic that India would avenge their semifinal humiliation two years back and beat England on Thursday.
