Team India skipper Rohit Sharma opted to bat first in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final against New Zealand at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, November 15. Rohit said that the wicket looked good but was on the slower side since it's a used pitch and suggested that it could get slower as the game progressed, something which New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson alluded to as well which is why he wanted to bat first as well.
Batting first at Wankhede is a huge advantage considering how poor the batters have performed in the powerplay while batting second and since the track will be fresh to bat first, the team defending could put on a really big score and the chasing side might succumb under pressure, as has been the case in the tournament.
Both teams went unchanged as the Men in Blue hope to get a big score first up and defend later to qualify for their fourth final in ODI World Cup history. This is the second time when India and New Zealand are facing each other in an ODI World Cup semi-final after the infamous 2019 clash where the Kiwis prevailed on the reserve day in a rain-hit knockout in Manchester four years ago.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson (c), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham (wk), Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will be hoping to give India a good start and will aim to negate the opening bowling threat of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, which was the key contest responsible in deciding the semi-final four years ago.
More to follow...
