Virat Kohli-led India has done a remarkable job at the ongoing ICC World Cup 2019 in the United Kingdom (UK). The Men in Blue lost a solitary game in the league stage fixtures to finish on top with 15 points in nine matches. It also included a point from a washed out game against New Zealand on June 13. They won as many as seven games apart from a 31-run loss at the hands of England on June 30 at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Now, India will face the Black Caps in the first semi-final on Tuesday (July 8) at the Old Trafford in Manchester. The Kiwis had lost three games consecutively before heading into the semis. Kane Williamson-led side had made as to the fourth semi-finalist following a better net run-rate than Pakistan.
On the other hand, India had won their both previous fixtures to make things pretty easier ahead of the knockout fixtures.
Rohit is in rich vein of form:
Thoroughly, India has dominated the teams by playing a consistent brand of cricket. At the top, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and skipper Kohli himself had done an excellent job by scoring the bulk of the runs for India.
Moreover, the bowlers have done exceedingly well to create problems for the opponents. Also, the spinners had done plenty to make most of the sluggish surfaces at the twelfth edition of the ICC World Cup 2019.
India had shown the upper hand since thumping South Africa on June 5.
Rohit is the leading run-getter at the World Cup with 647 runs in eight innings at an average of 92.43.
Apart from Rohit, Kohli has accumulated 442 runs, and Rahul has 360 runs to his name in eight eights.
In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah is the leading wicket-taker with 17 scalps in eight matches.
Also, speedster Mohammad Shami has done an incredible job so far in just four matches. Shami has 14 wickets under his belt which included a hat-trick against Afghanistan.
Dinesh Karthik likely to make a way for Shami:
To talk about two changes, Dinesh Karthik will likely make way for Shami. With this, India will get an option to go with three fast bowlers which include Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Furthermore, Yuzvendra Chahal is likely to be introduced in the playing XI. The wrist-spinner Chahal has 11 wickets in seven matches, whereas Kuldeep, has six in as many games.
The duo had bowled in tandem for India to yield desired results. Given to the wrist-spin bowling, they have different variations to make things pretty difficult for the batters.
Overall, the team winning the toss would like to bat first. The primary reason is that English wickets tend to get slower and slower in the second half of the game.