(Cricket news) The knockouts stage of the 2022 T20 World Cup has begun. India topped Group 2 with wins against Pakistan, Netherlands, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The men in blue have got the job done in the big tournament even though they haven't played their best cricket. England on the other hand bounced back after the upset against Ireland with wins over New Zealand, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Now the two teams will lock horns for a place in the mega final at the MCG. India won the last T20 series against England 2-1 but this time around the stakes are higher.
India's possible playing XI:
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh
Bench:
Dinesh Karthik, Harshal Patel, Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rohit Sharma has said that both Pant and Karthik are still in the mix but Pant may get the edge. Other than that it is unlikely that India will make any changes. Rohit himself will be under pressure to score some runs. India's biggest concern is their bowling in the middle overs. Indian spinners Axar and Ashwin haven't picked up a lot of wickets in this tournament which could force India into playing Yuzvendra Chahal. The only problem with playing Chahal is that India's batting tail would be very long.
England's possible playing XI:
Alex Hales, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Philip Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Bench:
Dawid Malan, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Tymal Mills
Malan injured his groin in the match against Sri Lanka and he is a doubt gojng into the match. Salt is the ideal replacement for him but it will be interesting to see where he bats as he is usually an opener. The rest of England's batting order is pretty flexible which makes things a little easier. Mark Wood also has a few problems but he is likely to play. Ben Stokes is the man for the big occasions and all eyes will be on him. Alex Hales is the in-form batter and he will be very important for his side.
Also read: One knock-out game won't define me or any other player: Rohit
