Jacks removes Abhishek, Sanju dropped after England opt to bowl

England captain Harry Brook won the toss and opted to bowl against India in the second semifinal of the T20 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. India are unchanged from their Sanju Samson-inspired win against the West Indies. England have included Jamie Overton in place of Rehan Ahmed.

The Match
Sanju Samson gave India a solid start against his nemesis Jofra Archer with a four and a six off the first over. But England got the first wicket through Will Jacks in the second over as the spinner removed Abhishek Sharma 9 (7).

Sanju got a reprieve in the second over from Archer as Brook dropped a sitter at mid-off. Sanju mistimed a full delivery, but survived. Will he make England pay tonight? He's hit four fours and two sixes to get to 30 off 14 from first four overs. 

Playing XIs:
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt), Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid

The background
Cricketers past and present assembled in South Mumbai on Thursday to celebrate the wedding of Sachin Tendulkar's son Arjun and Saaniya Chandhok. Among them was Gautam Gambhir. It was one of the rare occasions the usually serious-looking head coach of the Indian men's cricket team was seen smiling.

Thanks to Sachin for putting a smile on the face of his former teammate, with whom he lifted the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. But later tonight, the current generation of India cricketers would have to be at their best to make Gambhir smile again. The only way they can do it is by beating England tonight. 

The winners of the match will take on New Zealand in the final to be played on March 8 (Sunday). New Zealand had crushed South Africa by nine wickets on Wednesday, with Finn Allen smashing an unbeaten 33-ball 100 at the Eden Gardens.

India would need a special performance, from one or more of their players to topple the English again at the semifinal stage. India and England will be playing a semifinal of the T20 World Cup for the third edition in a row. England won the 2022 clash in Adelaide by 10 wickets before marching on to lift the title. India avenged the loss in the 2024 edition with a 68-run win in Providence before their triumph in the final.

Both England and India have lost a match this edition, but have found noteworthy performances at each juncture to get through. Sanju Samson scored a memorable 97 not out in a virtual quarterfinal clash with the West Indies while skipper Harry Brook's century in a two-wicket win over Pakistan in another Super Eights match was one of the special moments from England in this edition.