India vs England Semifinal 2026: The biggest question before the semi-final match to be held in Mumbai is whether the Indian team will make changes in its playing eleven against England today (5 March)? At present, the biggest concern for Team India is the top order batting.

However, Sanju Samson’s brilliant inning of 97 runs in the Super-8 match against West Indies brought relief to the team. In that match, Abhishek Sharma was out after scoring just 10 runs in 11 balls and India got its first blow on the score of 29 runs. After this, Ishan Kishan also returned to the pavilion after scoring 10 runs on the total score of 42 runs.

It is worth noting that Sanju Samson’s return to the T20 World Cup was in the Super-8 match against Zimbabwe. Before that he had played a match against Namibia in Delhi, where he got a chance due to Abhishek Sharma being ill. After Sanju’s return, Ishan Kishan was sent down the batting order, while Abhishek Sharma continued to open. Abhishek had scored 55 runs against Zimbabwe, but before that he was under question due to his continuous poor form.

Abhishek Sharma may be out

Now the big question is whether the Indian team will make any changes in an important match like the semi-final against England? Usually the Indian team does not make much changes in its playing eleven. Because if the decision taken at this time proves to be wrong then questions may be raised on the team management.

Before the second semi-final to be played on Thursday (5 March) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has also given important opinion regarding the playing eleven. He believes that the team management should consider a change considering the current form.

Shastri said that if the team feels that Abhishek Sharma is not completely comfortable mentally and the continuous low scores have affected his confidence, then a serious decision should be taken on this. According to him, this can be gauged from his batting, body language and conversation in the nets. So far in the tournament, Abhishek Sharma has scored only 80 runs in 6 innings. His average is 13.13 and strike rate is 131.15, which is a cause for concern before the knockout match.

Rinku Singh may get a chance

Ravi Shastri suggests that if a change is made, Ishan Kishan should open with Sanju Samson. Rinku Singh can be included in the playing eleven and given the role of finisher in the lower order.

Ishan Kishan has scored 224 runs in 7 innings in this tournament. His average is 32 and strike rate is 185.13. The special thing is that both his half-centuries have come while opening. However, after the return of Sanju Samson, he had to bat at number 3.

Abhishek’s excellent record in Wankhede

Abhishek Sharma’s previous record against England has been quite good. Last year, in the fifth T20 match played at Wankhede, he played a explosive inning of 135 runs on 54 balls. When this innings was mentioned, Ravi Shastri made it clear that his suggestion was only keeping in mind the current form and aggressive options in the team’s batting. However, he also said that he is not completely in favor of ousting Abhishek Sharma. According to him, there is already a lot of firepower in the Indian batting, so if the team wants, it can keep faith in Abhishek.

Big decision before the semi-finals

Now everyone’s eyes will be on the team management whether it gives importance to experience and past records or takes any big decision considering the current form. This match to be held in Wankhede, Mumbai will decide the path to the final for India, in such a situation the selection of playing eleven is going to be very important.

India’s probable playing XI (against England): Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh/Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakraborty, Arshdeep Singh.