Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 5 : Indian opener Abhishek Sharma continued his poor run against off-spin in the ongoing T20 World Cup as he yet again had a poor outing against England in the semifinal at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Abhishek looked promising in the start, getting two boundaries against Will Jacks. The spinner and England's star performer in this tournament had the last laugh as Abhishek attempted a flick, which came from the bottom of his bat and landed into hands of Phil Salt, who came running from deep midwicket, removing him for just nine runs in seven balls.
In this tournament against off-spin, Abhishek has been poor against off-spin, scoring just 29 runs in 27 balls at an average of 9.66, being dismissed thrice in five innings against offies and has a strike rate of just 107.40 against them.
In seven matches and innings in this tournament, Abhishek has scored just 89 runs at an average of 12.71 and a strike rate of 130.88, with just one fifty, 55 runs against Zimbabwe in a crucial Super Eight clash.
England won the toss and Team India is batting first in the semi-final clash against England in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
The winner of the match will advance to the final to face New Zealand on March 8 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
England made one change in their playing XI, replacing spinner Rehan Ahmed with pacer Jamie Overton, whereas India are going with the same team.
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
England (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (w), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.