T20 World Cup 2022: "They both have to be wary of the inswinger" - Nasser Hussain warns England openers of India's new-ball bowlers
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has warned Jos Buttler and Alex Hales against India's new-ball bowlers ahead of their T20 World Cup semi-final in Adelaide on Thursday, November 13.
Hussain also highlighted that India's spin-bowling department could expose England's vulnerability against the same.
India's new-ball bowling pair of Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been very incisive in the powerplay and have actively gone for wickets.
Notably, Arshdeep is India's highest wicket-taker in the tournament, bagging ten scalps in five games at 14.10 and maintaining an economy rate of 7.83.
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In his column for the Daily Mail, the former batter sees the match-up between England's openers and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as an interesting one if the ball moves.
"As for India’s bowling, Arshdeep Singh has been brilliant with the new ball and gives India that left-arm variation while the clash between Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jos Buttler and Alex Hales at the top will be key. They both have to be wary of the inswinger, if the ball moves."
Although Buttler and Hales struggled at the start of the tournament, the duo have gelled together to score some important runs in the last few games. They stitched opening stands of 81 and 75 against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, respectively.
"England's playing of spin here has not been the greatest" - Nasser Hussain
The 54-year-old believes England must tackle India's spinners well to win the game, adding:
"Then there is the spin threat of Axar Patel and Ravi Ashwin while India might also consider the leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal unless they fear it weakens their lower order. I don't know yet whether the semi-final will be on another used pitch but England's playing of spin here has not been the greatest and they will have to be better against India."
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Chasing 142 against Sri Lanka on a tricky SCG track, England's middle order struggled against the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga, Dhananjaya de Silva and Maheesh Theekshana. However, Ben Stokes kept his calm to steer them over the line.