MUMBAI: All-rounder Sam Curran is confident that England can produce their “perfect” semi-final performance in Adelaide as they prepare to face India in their third consecutive T20 World Cup semi-final on Thursday.
The left-arm fast bowler, who won Player of the Tournament honors when England won the trophy in Australia in 2022, fondly recalled how Jos Buttler and Alex Hales demolished the Indian bowling to chase down 169 with 24 balls to spare.
That emphatic ten-wicket victory took England into the final, which they went on to win.
Ahead of the latest installment of this burgeoning rivalry – the two teams meet in the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup in Guyana – Curran acknowledged the challenge posed by the eager Indian crowd at the Wankhede Stadium, but his side wanted a chance to silence them.
“Everybody says when is England going to play the right game and that (Adelaide semi-final) was our right game,” Curran said before the team’s training session on Tuesday afternoon.
“So it would be nice to get something close to that. You look back at the good memories. Joss and Halesy (Alex Hales) was our man that day, that was the right game. If you want to defend, we bowled well, 10 wickets down and it was a huge Indian crowd. I want to win and get to another World Cup final,” he added.
Harry Brook’s England have not been fluent in all seven of their matches this World Cup campaign. Despite suffering a group-stage loss to the West Indies at the venue, they have rallied to make it three consecutive wins at the Super Eight stage.
Will Jacks is England’s man of the match with a record four man-of-the-match awards, while Brook sits among the leading run-scorers, including a match-winning century against Pakistan in the Super Eights.
Curran dismissed concerns about individual form, stressing that the collective aim of winning the tournament takes priority.
“Everybody cares a lot about each person’s shape,” Curran said. “The truth is, we’ve won. So I don’t think the guys are too worried about individual form. World Cup cricket is different from bilateral cricket. Everyone is worried about individuals and all that kind of stuff. It’s exciting as a group that we’re not fired.
“On Thursday night everyone is going to say, if someone goes out, it’s at the end of the day, if England win, everyone is going to be happy. So we can focus on the whole team and I think we do as players.”
Despite Curran’s upbeat assessment of the dressing room atmosphere, one notable concern lies in the form of captain Jos Buttler.
The wicketkeeper-batsman managed just 62 runs in seven innings, including a duck duck, in the final Super Eight match against New Zealand.
On Tuesday, Buttler worked on his batting for nearly two hours, starting with standard drills to refine his arm movement, bat swing and head position before facing throwdowns and regular bowlers.
Buttler, who started his Indian Premier League career with Mumbai Indians in 2016 and 2017, shares a close association with the Wankhede Stadium. In 31 T20 innings at the venue, he has amassed 901 runs at an average of 32.46 and a strike rate of 143.82.
“He obviously wants more runs, but I’d certainly rather have Jos Buttler in my team than come up against him on Thursday night,” Curran said.
“He’s done so well for us over many, many years and he’s done so many times on this ground. So, hopefully Thursday night is his night, but if it’s not, he’s undoubtedly one of the best in the world.”
The second semi-final will be played on the center pitch – the same area where England fell to the West Indies and newcomers Italy recorded their first World Cup win against Nepal.
It is noteworthy that the spinners have claimed 14 wickets at an economy rate of 7.19 compared to eight wickets by the pacers at 10.35.
While the red-clay pitch is expected to retain its bounce, the amount of turn may be less pronounced than in the two previous matches played on it, and the ball is likely to slide more.
Two days out from the semi-final, the pitch looked a green mango, although frequent watering and drying in the last fortnight is believed to have left the surface on the dry side.
Curran dismissed suggestions that the toss or ice would prove decisive, suggesting that the scale of the occasion overshadowed such considerations.
“In a semi-final, there’s a lot of…maybe it’s the ice or not, and the pressure is on. We’ll have some ice experts come and join our shed, but I don’t think so. So if we bowl first, rock and roll them and bat first, we’ll get a big score.”
No matter which XI India field, the home crowd is a constant factor that will affect proceedings and overwhelm the opposition. However, Curran insisted that England are well used to the excitement generated by a capacity crowd at an Indian ground.
“We’re very prepared for what the crowd is like. You get goosebumps as a player, it’s great to play in stadiums like this and make noise. If we can find ways to keep the crowd nice and quiet, we’ll be much better at game conditions.”
Asked how players can keep the crowd’s intensity at bay, Curran reflected on childhood dreams.
“Flying from Sri Lanka to Mumbai, you dream as a child, what do you want to do? It’s India facing India. It’s an amazing experience. We will start with the national anthems,” he said.
“It’s going to be incredibly loud and you have to look at it as an exciting opportunity. If the crowd is quiet, England will be fine. So I think that’s our positive way of looking at it. We’ve played so much cricket as players in India, you get used to it.