India vs England, semi-final LIVE: England ask India to bat first; India goes unchanged

In the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal, India faces England at Wankhede Stadium. England's captain Harry Brook won the toss and chose to bat first, hoping to leverage Mumbai's chasing history.

England captain Harry Brook won the toss and decided to field first. Image | BCCI on X

In one of the biggest games of the year so far, India are all set to face England at the Wankhede Stadium in the second semifinal of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026. In a high-pressure toss, England captain Harry Brook won the flip of the coin and asked India to bat first, citing the trend of successful chase chases in Mumbai. The final of the two-time semifinals will face New Zealand in Ahmedabad on March 8.

England made one change

England made one tactical change, bringing the pace-bullying on-downer Jamie Overton for leg spinner Rehan Ahmed to extend their already long batting lineup, along with strengthening their seam attack on the Red Soil Mumbai pitch, which might offer a bit of movement early in the game.

"It looks like a good wicket. We hope to get a good start and chase it down. India has more experience, but we’ve scraped through some tough spots, and that holds us in good stead. Overton comes in for Rehan," Brook said after the toss.

Read also: Mohammad Kaif flags concern in Varun Chakravarthy’s bowling ahead of IND vs ENG semifinal.

India wanted to bat first

Although England cited that they wanted to bat first due to the history of successful chases at Wakhede Stadium, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav stated that they wanted to bat first, and they got what they were looking for to do in the mega semi-finals.

Although there were speculations of Ringu Singh coming back into the playing XI and he was seen practising hard on the eve of the match, India named an unchanged XI from their match against the West Indies.

"We’d have batted first anyway. There's some wind around, and I don't think dew will be a major factor tonight. The mood in the camp is positive; we’ve tightened our screws and our brand of cricket has been different this time," Suryakumar Yadav stated after the toss.

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Playing XIs

India XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.

England XI: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (c), Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.

How to watch the India vs England, T20 World Cup 2026 match?

Cricket fans in India can watch the India vs England, T20 World Cup 2026 match on JioHotstar, accessible via OTTplay Premium.

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