2024 T20 World Cup: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today’s India vs England match ft. Kuldeep Yadav
The last time India and England met in a men's T20 World Cup semi-final (which was as recent as the last edition in 2022), one side took six wickets, most of them quite cheaply, and the other took no wickets at all.
The side that took the wickets won. That was England, with Jos Buttler's men registering a 10-wicket win. It was a feat comparable to what South Africa did against Afghanistan on Thursday in Trinidad.
As we expect a turning track in a day game in Guyana, bowlers will almost certainly pick more wickets than six. England's batting isn't as strong as it was in 2022 and India's bowling is much stronger. Will that bring a change in result? Or will it be a similar story in a different package?
We don't know. But we have tried to solve one piece of the puzzle by picking three bowlers who we think can pick up the most wickets in this second semi-final. Check it out here:
#3 Jasprit Bumrah
While all the attention will be on the spinners for this game, it's impossible to keep Jasprit Bumrah out of such lists. Remember, he didn't play that 2022 game because of injury and India boasted a rag-tag mix of vintage and inexperienced.
Bumrah is the best bowler in the world when it comes to finding success across conditions and a turning track won't deter him from using his yorkers, cutters, and heavy length balls to force some returns out of England.
He already has seven wickets from four T20Is against the English at an average of 10. This includes a three-wicket haul at, of all places, the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone have already gotten out to him twice in the format while for Sam Curran that number reads at four. Jonny Bairstow and Livingstone are yet to score a boundary against him too. Most others will see him as a bad match-up and his death-overs wicket probability will be quite high as well.
#2 Adil Rashid
Like he was in 2022, Adil Rashid has been one of England's best bowlers this T20 World Cup. With nine wickets, he's the joint-highest wicket-taker alongside Jofra Archer for England, performing especially well in crunch Super-Eight games.
The leg-spinner would enjoy bowling in Guyana and would take confidence from his match-winning spell of 1/20 in the 2022 semi-final. Although India have added a ton of left-handers in the mix to counter bowlers like him, it won't be easy because of the kind of bounce he generates consistently.
Virat Kohli and Suruyakumar Yadav have got out to him twice each while Rohit Sharma too has fallen to him once. If India's left-handers, especially Rishabh Pant, don't step up, Rashid might run through with another match-winning showing.
#1 Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav has a lot going for him ahead of this semi-final. He is in brilliant form, having taken seven wickets in the last three matches in this tournament. The pitches in the West Indies are supporting him and his remodelled action is getting the best out of them too, which should continue in Guyana too.
England didn't face him in the 2022 game either so he'd be a big challenge, especially considering that Jos Buttler (thrice), Jonny Bairstow (once), Liam Livingstone (once), Moeen Ali (twice) and Will Jacks (once) have all got out to him previously, despite some of them getting good runs in a few games.
Overall, he has five wickets against them in two games at an average of 11.60 - a record that can get even better if he hits his stride early.