In the World Cup semi-final in Adelaide in 2022, England completed one of their most complete T20 performances recently when they thrashed India by 10 wickets. However, Matthew Mott, England’s coach believes it is not a similar Indian team.
“They are very different from what they were in Adelaide. They tend to take it on right from the word go and look to play the Powerplay very hard; their captain Rohit Sharma leads them there,” said Mott before an England practice session on Tuesday.
Moreover, we put them into bat on that day and I think they were not certain about what was a really good score for us. But this time could be different and they will probably want to bat us out of the game,” explained Mott at an England training session today (Wednesday).
The idea that India tends to falter under pressure during knockout situations is also something that the English coach disagrees with. “They have made so many semis and finals which says a lot about how good a team they are. People will realize later how great this Indian team was”, he said showing great respect for the Indians.
In this World Cup, England had a bit of a shaky start when their first match against Scotland was washed out followed by Australia winning handsomely. But since then every match has been do or die for them and they have responded accordingly. However, Mott argues that won’t matter at all at this stage of the competition.
“Relief mixed with happiness prevailed in our minds as we went through into Super 8s. We are just starting our tournament now. The general feeling within our group is that the best cricket is yet to come.” This would be an amazing contest against India who he thinks are “a fantastic unit.”
Mentioning about his openers’ form being crucial in this game, the English head coach states: “Jos (Buttler) has been inspirational with his game while Phil Salt has broken through and they are a super strength in this team. We are just excited what they bring to the table.”
