India's Spin Duo Dominates England in T20 World Cup Semi-Final

India's captain, Rohit Sharma, has praised the exceptional performance of his spin duo, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, in their semi-final victory over England in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

After England's Jos Buttler had aggressively hit Arshdeep Singh for three boundaries in the third over, Axar Patel turned the tide with his first delivery. Patel dismissed Buttler by spinning the ball away from his usual skidding style, forcing the English skipper to attempt a reverse sweep that resulted in a catch for Rishabh Pant.

Patel continued to trouble the English batters, while Kuldeep Yadav joined the fray to further increase their woes. Patel's influential spell of 3/23 included the removal of the opening order, while Kuldeep provided excellent support with figures of 3/19, effectively neutralizing England's middle order.

Rohit Sharma lauded the left-arm spin duo, revealing their strategy to counter England's aggressive approach. "They (Axar and Kuldeep) are gun spinners. When the conditions like that are in front of them, it's difficult to play some shots. The pressure is on them as well to come and execute those balls, but they were calm and knew what to bowl. We had a little chat after the first innings - try and hit the stumps as much as possible, keep the stumps in play," Rohit said in the post-match presentation.

The spinners played a crucial role in England's downfall, with Jasprit Bumrah adding the finishing touches. England, aiming to replicate their 2022 World Cup semi-final triumph, fell short and saw their title defense crumble.

The challenging nature of the pitch, with some deliveries staying low and others taking flight, further hindered England's chase of 172. Rohit Sharma emphasized the importance of adapting to the conditions, which paved the way for India's first appearance in the final in ten years.

"Very satisfying to win this game. We worked really hard as a unit. To win this game like that was a great effort from everybody. We adapted to the conditions really well. The conditions were a little challenging, we had to adapt, and that's been the success story for us so far till this game. The bowlers and the batters, if they play according to the conditions, things fall in place, and that's exactly what happened for us today," Rohit said.

After losing Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant early in their innings, India relied on Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav to build a competitive total. The duo's 73-run partnership took India to a respectable 171/7.

"Very pleasing to see how we came through this game. At one stage, we were feeling 140-150, and as the game went on, we got some runs in the middle, me and Surya. We got that partnership. I can set the target in my mind, but I don't want to let anyone know about it, to the batters ... because ... they are instinctive players, and I want them to go out there and play freely without thinking too much about what's the par score. We bat well, we understand the condition well, we will get to a good score, and that's exactly what happened. We got to 170, which I thought was a very good score on that pitch, and then the bowlers were fantastic," he added.

England's failure to comprehend the pitch's nature led to their eventual collapse, with the team managing only 103 runs in 16.4 overs. The T20 World Cup final is now set to be a thrilling clash between the unbeaten sides, India and South Africa, in Barbados on Saturday.

Tags: #T20WorldCup, #India, #England, #KuldeepYadav, #AxarPatel