India vs England: Will Bumrah open the bowling with Arshdeep in T20 World Cup semifinal?

The focus has shifted from the Eden Gardens in Kolkata to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, where India are set to take on England on March 5 in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup. The hosts seem to have found the right balance finally, getting Sanju Samson to open the batting alongside Abhishek Sharma. The wicketkeeper-batter powered India into the semifinal with a superb unbeaten 97 against the West Indies on March 1.

In the virtual quarterfinal, India decided to open the bowling with Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya. Pace ace Jasprit Bumrah was introduced only in the sixth over, and returned for his second one only in the 12^th. He made an immediate impact, taking two wickets in the same over. In the six matches he has played so far in the tournament, he has not opened the bowling yet, with Arshdeep Singh or Hardik Pandya doing the honours – Bumrah shared the new ball in three of these matches.

So, will India give Bumrah the new ball in the semifinal, especially if India bowl first? And, how many overs will he get in the powerplay? While opening the bowling with the pace spearhead will send a strong message to the English camp, Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar said that Bumrah should get at least two overs in the powerplay. “I do believe that he (Bumrah) should be bowling at least two overs in the powerplay because as a new-ball bowler, if he can get those early wickets – Jos Buttler, Phil Salt and Harry Brook – he will have pretty much broken the back of the England batting,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by PTI at a golf event in Bengaluru.

The team management seems to be saving two of his overs for death overs. Bumrah has bowled two overs in the powerplay only thrice in his six matches, and has taken four wickets in those. "...him coming in to bowl the fifth over, when four overs have already been bowled and the batters have got about 20 deliveries, means that both batters have got about 8-10 deliveries to settle in,” Gavaskar said. “So, wouldn't it be better then for Bumrah and for India if Bumrah were to bowl to them first and get them out?"

Gavaskar has a point. England have a destructive top order comprising skipper Harry Brook, Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell (and Tom Banton). While Brook is in great form, with 228 runs including a match-winning 51-ball 100 against Pakistan, the others are yet to fire in a big way. But, each of these batters are capable of running away with the match on his day.

The reigning champions, India, and England have met in the semifinals in the 2022 and 2024 T20 World Cups, with the English team thrashing India by 10 wickets in the 2022 edition held in Adelaide and Rohit Sharma's team winning in Providence, West Indies, two years later.