Defending champions India are now fully prepared to face England in the T20 World Cup semi-finals.
The match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, but before the match, the team’s bowling coach has expressed a major concern about dew.
Wankhede pitch and dew could make a difference
India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel clearly stated that dew could play a major role in the match.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “I think dew is always a big concern. But that’s again something you can’t control: the toss. I think at Wankhede, there’s always that extra bit of bounce. Guys can trust the bounce and lead through the line, which can also, as a bowler, bring you into the game. I just felt or feel that the margins here are a lot smaller. The ball travels; it’s quite a small ground.”
It’s clear that the ball travels fast at Wankhede, the ground is small, and even a small mistake can be costly. In such a situation, both the toss and dew can change the course of the game.
Morkel further stated that bowlers need not be afraid, but rather need to remain attacking. “So you just need to be really fighting that over, staying in the moment and competing for every ball. Because, as I said, a batter’s strength can also be their weakness on the surface. So it’s sometimes not to go too defensive and keep on attacking because opportunities can come.”
Gautam Gambhir also made a big statement
Head coach Gautam Gambhir also expressed his views on dew. He said, “During the bilateral series as well, there was a lot of dew in the second innings as well, but we did not see a lot of dew during this World Cup campaign. So I felt that it was not only about the strike rate, but it was about reading the game properly and obviously reading the situation as well. And that is something that is going to be important, and the guys did that really well.”
Gambhir also praised the team’s chasing ability. “Even today, you saw they were chasing 195. We never felt that we were out of the game. Never ever did we feel in 20 overs that the chase was away from us. So the guys kept in control. Yes, there were times in bilateral matches where we could chase the target in 16 or 17 overs, but this is the World Cup. And the pressure is different, and the quality is different as well.”
India defeated Zimbabwe and West Indies in this tournament to reach the semi-finals, although they lost to South Africa in the Super Eight.
All eyes are now on this high-voltage semi-final, where conditions, pitch and pressure will be the true test of all three.
