India will need to defy a 10-year-old T20 World Cup history if they have to make their way into the finals of the 20-over World Cup 2024 in the USA and the Caribbean. The Men in Blue are playing in their fifth semifinal and are looking for their third entry into the final.
The Indian team will need to end a 10-year record if they have to reach the final of the 2024 tournament. Notably, no team has won a T20 World Cup knockout game batting first since 2014.
The last team to win a knockout game in the 20-over World Cup while batting first was Sri Lanka, who defeated West Indies in the 2014 World Cup semifinal by 27 runs in a rain-affected game.
The Lankan Lions made 160/6 in the first semifinal in Mirpur. The rain intervened in the clash and the defending champions were set a target of 108 in 13.5 overs. But they managed to get to 80/4 and lost by 27 runs.
The Men in Blue were asked to bat first after England skipper Jos Buttler won the toss in the second semifinal between India and England. "We'll bowl first. Looks like a good surface, and the bounce will be low, with the rain around, we thought it'll be a bit of an advantage to bowl first. We're up against a great team, but we're peaking nicely and we are playing the same team today. Looking forward to a great challenge against a top side. Excited to be in a semi-final, but some of us have been here before," Buttler said at the toss.
"We would have batted first, the weather looks good, whatever had to happen, it has already happened. We wanted to put runs on the board. The pitch tends to get slower as the game goes on. We understand the challenge of playing a tournament like this, a lot of travel and logistics. It's a chance to play some good cricket. We don't want to think too far ahead, stay in the moment and let your game do the talking. Same team for us," Rohit said at the toss.
