Ahead of the highly awaited second semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 where India takes on the defending champions England at Guyana, the English head coach, Matthew Mott is fully aware that he is not coming up against the same side that they beat in the 2022 semi-finals.
Speaking ahead of the semi-finals, the head coach has suggested that there is something different about the current Indian team that has displayed a newfound aggression in their game.
“Probably the only thing that we’ve discussed is that we feel that they’re a very different team to that semi-final. The way that they’ve approached it in the last couple of years is certainly taking the game on extremely hard in the power play,” said Mott on the eve of the match.
Mott also feels that what Rohit Sharma is to the Indian team, Jos Buttler has a similar role for England. He also added that one of the biggest challenges his side faces is the unfamiliarity with regard to the ground. However, despite the challenges he believes the squad is equipped to face whatever challenges that may come up against them.
“Rohit (Sharma) with the bat has led the way extremely well and shown leadership in that department, as has Jos Buttler for us. But I think it presents a really unique challenge for us. It’s a venue we don’t know well.
“We’ve been armed with a lot of information and we think we’ve got a squad to cover it, but there’s a little bit of unknown about what we’re going to get,” he said.
The England head coach also gave praise to the Indian team for being amongst the top sides across all competitions despite not getting the title. He suggested that winning the crunch games is all about getting the small margins in your favour.
“What India has done incredibly well over the last few years is put themselves in semi-finals contention and the flip side to that is when you don’t win people look at that as a negative. But I think the consistency that they’ve shown over a length of time shows what a great group of players they are,” he commented.
“And like anyone, when you get to the semi-final stage, every team, and the four teams out here, all think they’re in with a chance to win it. And there are small margins. So, if you take those key moments at the right time, you get over the line, if you don’t, you go home.
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