India vs England T20 World Cup 2026 Semifinal 2 Playing 11: Suryakumar Yadav’s side will look to correct the chinks in their armour in their last four clash against England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
Updated: March 5, 2026 10:56 AM IST
India vs England T20 World Cup 2026 Semifinal 2 Predicted Playing 11: Defending champions Team India have managed to scrape into the semifinals where they will take on two-time winners England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. Sanju Samson, who got a second lease of life with Rinku Singh sidelined after the death of his father last month, has not made the opening slot his own after a match-winning 97 not out off 50 balls in a virtual semifinal match vs West Indies in Kolkata on Sunday.
With Samson locked in as one of the openers, there is still major concern over Abhishek Sharma. The world No. 1 T20I batter has only managed to score 80 runs in 6 matches in the T20 World Cup 2026 – more than half of those runs coming with a fifty against Zimbabwe in a Super 8 match.
Team India bowling coach Morne Morkel credited Samson for not giving up hope when he was on the bench at the start of this T20 World Cup. “He’s a guy that always works hard at the nets. And yeah, I think just that sort of opportunity he got given, he showed his class and his experience, he got the opportunity and as a guy that’s played a lot of games, he stepped up in a crucial game. From a coaching or from a mentor sort of side, it was just about giving him the backing. Although he sort of lost his place in the team, for him it is always to make sure he gets the quality work in because you never know in a tournament that situation like we found ourselves can always be there. So credit to him for not losing that hope, keep on working hard, keep on grooving on his strengths and then taking the opportunity,” Morkel said about Samson in the pre-match press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Ishan Kishan, is the second-highest run-scorer for Team India in the T20 World Cup 2026 with 228 runs at a strike-rate of over 180 with two fifties as opener. To accommodate out-of-form Abhishek Sharma, Kishan has been forced to go down to the number 3 position with Rinku out of the side.
Suryakumar Yadav will be tempted to take the gamble of bringing back Rinku Singh in his role as the ‘finisher’ against England if they decide to take the big call to drop Abhishek Sharma from the Playing 11. If Rinku Singh doesn’t return to the team, then Tilak Varma will take up the role of the ‘finisher’ as he has maintained a strike-rate of 147 in this tournament.
For England, they are likely to bring back all-rounder and pace bowler Jamie Overton in the line-up at the expense of Rehan Ahmed. Unlike surfaces in Sri Lanka, the Mumbai pitch has more assistance for pace bowlers as compared to spinners – as Team India found out in their opening match against USA last month.
“I think the dew is always a big concern. But that’s again something you can’t control the toss. I think here at Wankhede there’s always that extra bit of bounce. Guys can trust the bounce and it through the line. But in saying that, that can also, as a bowler, bring you into the game. I just felt or feel that the margins here is a lot smaller, the ball travels. It’s quite a small ground,” Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel felt.
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India vs England ICC T20 World Cup 2026 Semifinal match no 2 Predicted 11
India: Abhishek Sharma/Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy
England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid
For all latest updates of T20 World Cup 2026 you can visit: https://www.india.com/icc-mens-t20-world-cup-2026/
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