India and England will square off in the second semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium on March 5.
India and England are set to square off in the second semifinal of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday (March 5).
On the eve of the knockout fixture, England skipper Harry Brook addressed a press conference, where he asserted that his team doesn’t need a "perfect game" to go all the way in the tournament.
This will be the third consecutive semifinal clash between two teams at the T20 World Cup. While England defeated India by 10 wickets at the Adelaide Oval in the 2022 edition, the Men in Blue emerged victorious by 78 runs two years later in Guyana.
England have endured their fair share of ups and downs in the ongoing T20 World Cup, including a nervy four-run win over minnows Nepal and defeat against the West Indies in group stage. Defending champions India too looked shaky in some of the Group A matches, before losing to South Africa in the Super 8s.
"No, I don't believe that we need a perfect game to win the competition, to be honest. The games that we have won have been nowhere near perfect and we've still managed to get the wins - convincingly in some of them and then tight in the others,” Brook said in the pre-match presser when asked if England would need that flawless performance to beat title favourites India in their backyard.
"But it's just the unity that we've had to be able to get across the line, the belief that everybody's shown throughout the games, and the calmness that we've had when the bowlers have stood at the top of their mark," he added.
Brook said playing a T20 World Cup semifinal against the tournament co-hosts was a "dream come true" for many English players.
"It's up there for sure. It's a dream come true for most of us to play in a World Cup semifinal against the home nation on a very iconic ground, so we're all really looking forward to it," he said.
However, Brook admitted that he would love to see his team produce a complete performance at least once in the tournament.
"We're obviously going into the game very confident. We're playing some good cricket. We haven't quite played that perfect performance yet, and I feel like it's just around the corner," he said.
"Hopefully, it's tomorrow (Thursday) night and we go out there and just play with freedom, play brave, and look to take it to them as much as we can," he added.
Brook did not read too much into veteran Jos Buttler’s string of low scores in the competition so far.
"You don't have to talk to him too much; leaving him alone is probably the best thing to do. He's been a powerhouse of a cricketer for many years, as we've all seen. I've been asked this question thousands of times now. I just think there should be no reason to question why he's in the team," Brook said.
India’s bowling attack, including Varun Chakaravarthy, will pose a significant challenge whose mystery spin has troubled several batters in the format.
The England captain, however, dismissed the notion that England struggle against spin, highlighting the team’s success in subcontinent conditions.
"We've gone to Sri Lanka and we've won six games in a row against a subcontinent side who are very good in their own backyard," Brook remarked.
"We've got a lot of confidence playing on turning pitches. (Varun) Chakravarthy is one of the best bowlers in the world and I'll try my best to face him and score as many runs as I can against him.
"We've got some very good spinners as well. Our spinners have bowled extremely well throughout this competition, and they've (India) got to try and tackle that challenge as well," he added.
Harry Brook hoped for a big individual performance too, noting that there has not been a single match in the competition so far where his side has been completely outclassed.
"We don't feel like we're ever out of a game. All it takes is one of the top seven to get a decent score, or one of our five or six bowlers to have an amazing day out there, and all of a sudden you're walking away with a victory," he said.
"That's what we've done so well so far. Everybody's kind of chipped in... that game against New Zealand - everybody had a part to play, whether with bat, ball or in the field."
Brook added, "It's definitely, so far, been mainly team performances. But I feel like there's a big individual performance to come."
(With PTI Inputs)