"It's ICC's Headache": Rohit Sharma's Straight Talk On Scheduling Ahead Of T20 World Cup Semi-Final
India and England eye a place in the final against South Africa, but there have been more talks regarding the weather and the pitch
Just like against Australia, India captain Rohit Sharma was on fire during the T20 World Cup semi-final press conference, ahead of the match against England at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. India and England eye a place in the final against South Africa, but there have been more talks regarding the weather and the pitch, rather than the actual match-ups between the two teams. England outplayed India at the same stage during the last edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia. On that night, England captain Jos Buttler and opener Alex Hales were too hot to handle for the Indian bowlers.
England won the game by 10 wickets, and went on to lift the title by beating Pakistan in the final. However, the equations are slightly different, with the pitch in Guyana likely to favour the spinners.
Traditionally, Indians have been known to tackle slight better, as compared to the other teams. However, Rohit insisted India will have no advantage.
"I don't think it's an advantage - I mean a lot of these players have played in different types of venues. I'm sure a lot of these English cricketers have played in this venue. So, I don't see this as an advantage. At the end of the day, you've got to play good cricket to win a cricket game. That's how I look at it," Rohit said in a pre-match press conference in Georgetown.
It has been raining in the capital of Guyana, Georgetown, over the past few days, and the forecast suggests that the same might happen on the day of the game.
ICC has not alotted a reserve day for the second semi-final as there's only a day's gap between the game in Guyana and the final in Barbados.
However, there is an additional time of 250 minutes in place for the game to be completed if the rain does interrupt the proceedings.
In case of a washout, India will go the final, while England will get eliminated even without playing.
As a result, several former England players have accused ICC on favouring India.
Sharing his views on the same, Rohit once again played down the debate, saying that the Indian players are focused on winning the day, instead of worrying about the weather.
"Look, the overhead conditions is in nobody's control. We don't know what's going to happen. The only thing I'm worried is if the game goes on until pretty late, we have a charter flight. We might miss that flight, but that's OK. It's the ICC' and the Cricket West Indies' headache to get us to the next venue, but we'll focus on how we can play this game well and get the results in our favour. That's what we will be focusing on but yeah, at the end of the day two good cricket teams are going to play so it's going to be a great game," he added.
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team
South Africa Cricket Team
Rohit Sharma
Virat Kohli