KATHMANDU: After a couple of close run-ins in the inaugural group stage, India’s T20 World Cup campaign picked up pace during the Super Eights.

In improved batting conditions in the West Indies, the team maintained a positive approach, posting and defending formidable totals against good bowling line-ups.

For India skipper Rohit Sharma, this brand of fearless cricket was important and the batter stressed that T20 cricket was a format where individual performances mattered little.

“Yes, it’s important to play without fear. And we have created this environment in the team for the past few years,” Rohit told reporters in India’s press conference prior the England semi-final.

“That we don’t have to think much (about strategies) and play without thinking. This format is like that now.

“Individual scores and individual brilliance don’t matter that much. If someone does it, it’s good, but you shouldn’t focus on it. I think the game that we played in Bangladesh was the perfect game.”

Rohit further dissected his example and stressed that India’s focus as a side was on individual players looking to fulfill their role in a specific stage of the game.

“As a captain I really like that, because I think the role we talk about – everyone played their role, and still not one or two people made 70-80 runs. One made 50, and then the other 6 players made 23-30 each and made us reach 198,” he added.

“That is because the role that we have given each player – he did his role in his phase. That’s when we reached that score.

“Our focus is not on the individual score, it is on the role, how you will play the role.”

Though unbeaten in the tournament, India’s Achilles heel in their recent ICC tournament appearances has been the knockout contest.

They lost in the semi-final of the 2022 edition of the Men’s T20 World Cup while they’ve also suffered losses in the finals of the ICC World Test Championship and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup last year.

Well aware of this history, Rohit, however, stressed that his side wanted to take this as yet another game, and not take added pressure that can impede on-field performance and decision making.

“We want to treat this game as another game that we have played in this tournament,” Rohit said. “Everyone knows in the back of their mind it’s a semi-final. But you don’t want to keep talking about it again and again and again. And not to think about what has happened in the past.”

“Sometimes if you think too much, sometimes you then will not be able to make the decisions that you want to make on the field. So, I think it’s important that we stay clear in our mind what we want to do.”

“We have had enough conversations with the players, what is expected out of each one of us. So, it’s time now to just rely on the individual instinct and then take the game forward.”

England wary of Kohli threat ahead of knockout T20 World Cup semi-final

The England camp are expecting the veteran right-hander to be ready to show his best in their final four clash in Guyana.

England coach Matthew Mott is wary of the threat Virat Kohli possesses as his side prepares for a knockout semi-final against India at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Kohli is yet to fire at this tournament with a mere 66 runs from six innings, but Mott is expecting the experienced right-hander to lift for the semi-final clash in Guyana.

Mott pointed to Kohli’s tendency to produce his best performances in big matches and knows his team must quell the top-order threat the 35-year-old will carry on Thursday.

“Virat has proven his class over a very long period of time and he is one of the players we’ve prepared well for,” Mott said

“We know how he can play; we know how destructive he can be and we also know his game smarts. If the game demands an innings of a different nature, he’s got that skill.

“So, he’s definitely a key player for them and like we’ve said throughout this tournament what’s happened throughout this tournament means nothing tomorrow when we face off against each other – big players step up in the big moments We’re hoping our players do that but you can expect him to do exactly the same.”

The final four clash in Guyana will be a rematch of the 2022 semi-final between England and India and Mott is hopeful of a similar result after his side cruised to a 10-wicket triumph in that contest at the Adelaide Oval.

The conditions teams will face in the Caribbean will be vastly different to the ones they encountered two years ago and for both England and India it will be the first match this tournament they have played at the Guyana National Stadium.

Mott believes both teams will need to adapt to the conditions they face and the team that prevails will be the one that adjusts more quickly.

“I don’t think anyone starts at an advantage or disadvantage in a semi-final,” Mott noted.

“I think it’s who adapts (to the conditions) the quickest. I think you can come in with preconceived ideas, but our mantra has always been playing what’s in front of us.

So, the intel that we can get in those first couple of overs, whether it’s with the bat or the ball, that’s been a real strong suit in this competition, the communication back and forth about what to expect, what ends to maybe target with the wind.

“I’ve arrived today, there’s no wind today, but we can expect that there will be some wind. And probably the key advantage for us is having someone like (former West Indies all-rounder) Kieron Pollard in our camp, whose intel on all the islands and what we can expect has been invaluable. He’s got a great presence within our group and the way he goes about it.”

ICC