India takes on England in crucial Super 8 encounter

Sep 19: India will take on England in their crucial Super 8 group match, to keep their hopes afloat for the possible semi-final berth, in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup at the Kingsmead in Durban later tonight.

Dhoni’s men have to cut out their task, as it’s a do or die situation for them and they will have to come hard with all cylinders firing against England, to remain in the title hunt.

An Indian win will close the doors for England, but the team will have to rely on the outcome of today’s New Zealand-South Africa clash in Durban for a clearer picture of its semifinal chances.

A loss to England would require South Africa to self-destruct in the rest of its matches if India has to qualify. You know you’re in trouble when you rely on the various permutations and combinations.

The Indians have had their share of problems both in bowling and batting. They failed to capitalise after plummeting New Zealand to 91 for five, and couldn’t sustain the momentum after dazzling start given by Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.

Virender Sehwag and Gautham Gambhir scored 76 in the first six overs against New Zealand, a record for the tournament, but the middle order is still a major problem for India as Yuvraj Singh, who was in sparkling form during the one-day series against England, hasn't be able to continue his good form in South Africa. However Robin Uthappa and Irfan Pathan have showed their capability to go gaga on any type of bowling attack. Pathan's return has certainly filled the all-round option, which India was missing in England.

England opening bowlers might have to face the sparkling Sehwag-Gambhir duo, as Sehwag’s blade will be on fire to make a statement to selectors back home to stage a return in the Indian ODI squad while Gambhir, who wants to cement his place in the Indian team, will not miss this opportunity to score a big one to keep selectors faith in him.

Gambhir, who stood in place of Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the press conference on Tuesday, said India would still be wary of England. "There's no psychological edge in such a short version. Whoever plays well on the given day will win. Even Zimbabwe managed to beat Australia in this competition. We have to win both games and we will be looking to do just that."

“A lot of our players are not too experienced in this format,” said Gambhir. The format has evolved at a rapid rate, and waiting for it to grow on you might be too late.

England will be looking for a miracle tonight to qualify for the last four after losing badly from the Kiwis and have been found wanting despite having Twenty20 knowledge in abundance with them.

Both the left-armers Pathan and RP Singh have been impressive, Pathan showing that he has rediscovered his late swing. However, Harbhajan Singh has been in the best of his form on his return to Indian team and will fancy his chances against England. Ajit Agarkar is still struggling and knows he wasn’t picked against Australia in the forthcoming one-day series. There might be a chance that Piyush Chawla would come in place of Agarkar, as he had delivered good performance in the just concluded England’s tour.

England’s captain Paul Collingwood sounded positive about his team’s chances to make it to the semi-final. “Mathematically, we are still in with a chance. We just have to go all out against India and win the match.

“In the matches we have lost, we have been down by just five or ten per cent. Our guys are committed and we’ll try our best to qualify,” he added.

It’s perform or perish situation for both the teams as they haven’t been in their best of form in the super-eight stage and would be keen to put up a good show by getting their acts together on the decisive night.

India (Squad): M.S. Dhoni (capt.), Ajit Agarkar, Piyush Chawla, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Virender Sehwag, Joginder Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Rohit Sharma, R.P. Singh, Yuvraj Singh, S. Sreesanth and Robin Uthappa.

England (Squad): Paul Collingwood (capt.), James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Andrew Flintoff, James Kirtley, Darren Maddy, Kevin Pietersen, Chris Schofield, Owais Shah, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Jeremy Snape, Vikram Solanki, Chris Tremlett and Luke Wright.