Ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup semi-final clash against England, India captain Rohit Sharma emphasised the need for Men in Blue to approach the crucial encounter with poise and simplicity, urging his team to continue playing ‘freely.’

It will be a rematch of the semi-final from the 2022 edition of the tournament as a red-hot Team India will meet England in the second semifinal of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup at Guyana on Thursday.
The last time these two nations faced off in a Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final was just 19 months ago in Adelaide, when a remarkable opening partnership between Jos Buttler and Alex Hales saw England cruise to 10 wicket win that forced a complete rethink in India’s T20 strategy and move away from more established superstars to younger blood, from conservatism to aggression.
Talking about what will be a rematch of the semi-final, Rohit said that from 2022 to 2024, not much has changed except his team now prioritises playing with a clear and free mind. The India captain urged his team to continue playing ‘freely’ and not to think about what lay ahead when they take on defending champions England in the semi-finals.
“Honestly, I mean, not a lot has changed because, see, when you want to approach, whenever you approach an international game and this being ICC T20 World Cup, we’ve tried to do play with very free mind in the last two or three years that we’ve played our T20 cricket and even the ODI cricket as well. So not a lot has changed as such. It all depends on what the condition has to offer. We saw throughout this tournament that the conditions had its own challenges. In New York, it was completely different. And now we’ve come here to West Indies, it’s been totally different. And we want to do that, we want to be a smart cricket team, we want to assess and play, like when we played the last game and even before that as well, the moment we realise it’s a good pitch, we want to play the way we play. And that is up for all of you guys to see how we want to play,” Rohit said in a pre-match press conference.
When asked about their plans for the semifinal against England, Rohit said that India doesn’t want to do anything different and play the same way they have been in the whole tournament, highlighting the importance of playing freely, and not worrying about the opposition.
“And I have tried and kept things very simple for myself personally, as well as, for the team because there is a lot of cricket being played in that group. These guys have played a lot of cricket, a lot of high-pressure games as well. So, there is not much that you need to discuss as such. You got to try and give them the role clarity, which I think we have done pretty well, very clearly as well. And then, obviously, we want to rely on them to make good decisions on the field. You don’t want to keep talking to them about – you got to do things differently and all of that,” he added.
The India captain lauded his team for playing “extremely well” throughout the tournament and backed the players to make decisions on the field, citing that they relied on what they felt at that particular moment during the match.
“Of course, you have to have an open mind when you want to do things, but as much as the team is concerned and I’m concerned, I think our priority was to keep things very simple and give them the freedom that you all want playing this format. Everyone knows in the squad that they have to get the job done, but the job getting done has to be done considering various factors. And I thought throughout this tournament we have done that extremely well so I don’t think we need to change what we did in 2022 to 2024 – now obviously everyone understands what they need to do. And we back them to make those decisions on the field and rely on what they feel at that particular moment what they want to do,” Rohit said.
While answering a question about the fear of failure factor in the Indian team and whether they’ve been unlucky in the semifinals and finals, Rohit gave an honest replay and said they are not thinking about what happened in the past and they will carry on from what Men in Blue have been doing in the ongoing tournament. He admitted that in past meetings, the team had suffered from a fear of failing.
“It’s a bit of both. See, we want to treat this game as another game that we have played in this tournament. We don’t want to think about what lies ahead, what the context of the game is, and all of that. Everyone knows in the back of their mind it’s a semi-final. But you don’t want to keep talking about it again and again and again. And not to think about what has happened in the past. I think we, all of us, the entire group, are in good frame of mind. We are playing well as a team, enjoying each other’s company and each other’s success at times as well. I think it’s important to just carry on that, carry on from what we’ve been doing in this tournament,” the India captain said.
Rohit said his team is focused on staying calm and keeping things simple in the high-pressure T20 World Cup semifinal
“Yes, we’ve been put under pressure in certain games during this tournament as well, but I thought we responded pretty well. And that is probably because we’re not thinking too far ahead. And again, tomorrow for us, thinking too far ahead, which is the finals, we don’t want to think about all of that. It’s a knockout game. We want to think about how well we can play and what we can do as a team to achieve the result that we are looking for. Sometimes, if you think too much, you will not be able to make the decisions that you want to make on the field. So, I think it’s important that we stay clear in our mind what we want to do. We have had enough conversations with the players about what is expected out of each of us. So, it’s time now to just rely on individual instinct and then take the game forward,” he added.
This time around, though, India has more batting firepower led by experienced campaigners skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, more attacking options through the middle overs, and more variation in their attack, but the defending champions will take some beating, especially with skipper Jos Buttler and his new opening partner Phil Salt both in blistering form.
England is just two games away from making history and becoming the first men’s team to retain a T20 World Cup, as per ICC.
On the other hand, India has not won this tournament since its inception back in 2007, and is searching for its first World Cup win in any format since 2011’s 50-over tournament. India’s last ICC trophy was in 2013, when they captured the ICC Champions Trophy in England.-ANI