T20 World Cup: Dawid Malan, Mark Wood racing to be match for England’s semi-final vs India

England will give Dawid Malan and Mark Wood “as long as possible” to show their health forward of a crunch T20 World Cup semi-final towards India in Adelaide.

Malan tweaked his left groin in England’s closing Super 12s group match towards Sri Lanka on Saturday and Wood has pulled up with common stiffness in his higher legs within the final couple of days, placing query marks over their availability for Thursday.

Skipper Jos Buttler provided little in the best way of an replace on both Malan or Wood at his pre-match press convention however the England captain did reveal they are going to doubtless make a late choice on the pair.

“We will see how they pull up,” Buttler stated. “We belief the medical group, we belief the 2 guys as nicely. We will give them so long as attainable.

“You need guys to be fit to participate in the game. I think in all sports you have players that don’t always play at 100 per cent but of course you have to be able to fulfil your role in the team.”

The duo carried out a couple of shuttle runs on the Adelaide Oval outfield at Wednesday’s observe, whereas Wood bowled round a dozen balls in direction of the top of nets with out wanting like he was at full tilt.

Wood has been the quickest bowler on present at this event, averaging 92mph and touching 96mph once in a while, and he can be anticipated to have a key position towards India’s star-studded batting line-up.

He appears extra prone to play than Malan, England’s quantity three batter who was seen having a few light throwdowns with head coach Matthew Mott as the web session wound in direction of an in depth.

England have chosen the identical XI in every of their 4 event fixtures up to now but when Malan is dominated out then Phil Salt appears the obvious candidate to step into the breach at first drop.

Salt has impressed the England hierarchy along with his perspective on this journey – in addition to the previous tour to Pakistan – despite the fact that he has been amongst these kicking their heels on the sidelines on matchday.

But if he’s chosen for his first look of England’s marketing campaign, Buttler is satisfied his Lancashire team-mate will be capable to deal with the magnitude of the event.

“He has a fantastic mindset, especially for the T20 format, he certainly doesn’t fear anyone and is someone who wants to get on the front foot and take the game on,” Buttler stated.

“He embodies quite a lot of what we speak about as a team and how we ask guys to play. Certainly I wouldn’t expect to see anything else from him if he gets the chance to play.

“He’s actually somebody who’s not going to shrink back from an event, I really feel like he is somebody who will certainly take it on.

“We have some fantastic players who have not yet played in the tournament and they will be desperate to make their mark if given a chance. I have full faith in every member of our squad.”

Atherton: Wood absence can be huge blow for England

“Mark Wood hasn’t bowled for a couple of days in practice, and is feeling a little sore,” Sky Sports Cricket’s Michael Atherton stated from Australia.

“It was noticeable to see Phil Salt have a long, long bat in the nets. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see him replace Malan, and if Wood can’t play, that’s a blow for England.

“Again it was noticeable to see [Chris] Jordan and [David] Willey specifically bowling yorkers within the internet.

“It would be a blow [Wood’s injury]. When you’re constructing a bowling attack for T20, you’re trying to create as much variety as you can.

“Wood is a key element of that, and he is bowled extraordinarily shortly.

“There’s a lot of talk about Suryakumar Yadav ahead of the game, and you’d think that [Wood vs Yadav] would be a key contest, because Wood often bowls in the middle overs. Once SKY comes in, you’d think Wood would have a crack at him straight away.

“So it could be a blow for England.”

Rohit Sharma downplays expectation on India ahead of semi-final

Rohit Sharma attempted to downplay the expectation on his India side ahead of their T20 World Cup semi-final against England, insisting the outcome will not define reputations.

India’s record at this tournament since being crowned inaugural champions in 2007 is surprisingly modest as they have reached the final on just one out of the past six occasions.

They suffered a shock group stage exit in the United Arab Emirates last year but can banish those memories by beating England at Adelaide on Thursday, and then Pakistan or New Zealand at the MCG on Sunday.

While India are viewed as slight favourites to reach the marquee match, Sharma feels his legacy and that of vaunted team-mates such as Virat Kohli cannot be washed away by what happens in the next few days.

“There’s just one alternative to do nicely in a knockout sport,” said the captain. “But for the gamers, what they’ve achieved of their complete profession would not outline them by only one knockout sport.

“The entire year you work so hard to get where you want to and to do well in whichever format you play. So that one particular game is not going to decide that.

“Knockout video games are necessary, and in case you do nicely it provides you that immense confidence. But we don’t neglect what has occurred previously, what the gamers have achieved previously.

“To be here at this point in time, we can take a lot of credit and pride in where we have come.”

India have needed to make do with out star quick bowler Jasprit Bumrah throughout their marketing campaign resulting from a again harm however left-armer Arshdeep Singh has been a revelation with 10 wickets in 5 matches.

Kohli at present leads the event run-charts whereas Suryakumar Yadav is just not far behind and boasts an astronomical strike-rate of 193.96, with three half-centuries to assist India high their Super 12s group.

India walked away from England in the summertime with 2-1 wins in each T20 and ODI collection. While they misplaced the newest T20 assembly at Trent Bridge in July, India did discipline a weakened bowling assault.

“In the back of our mind, yes, we can have that confidence knowing that we did pretty well against them,” stated Rohit. “But we just need to start fresh and think about the game with a fresh mind.

“We cannot go into the sport pondering that we have overwhelmed this group and it could actually occur once more identical to that.

“These guys are quite dangerous. They’ve played some really good cricket in the tournament, which is why they’re here, so we’ve got to be at our best to win the game.”

Watch England vs India within the T20 World Cup semi-final reside on Sky Sports Cricket on Thursday (7am build-up forward of an 8am begin).