🏏 Cricket World Cup 2023: 1st Semi-Final: India vs New Zealand, T#1 - Page 9

Rohit Sharma: We are gonna bat first. Looks like a good pitch. Looks like on the slower side. Whatever we do, we need to do well. I think it was back in 2019 when we played the semis. NZ is one of the most consistent sides. Very important day. Constantly, talking about how important it is abiut turning up on that day. Same team.

KW: We would have batted first. Hopefully, some dew later. Amazing occasion. Four years ago, similar situation but a different location. They have been playing some good cricket. Always a building phase between the tournaments. Need to assess what is in front of you when the tournament starts.

Teams:

New Zealand (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham(w), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

New Zealand (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham(w), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

Sampath Bandarupalli: Only the second time India won the toss in a men's World Cup knockout since the 2011 WC final. 2015 quarter-final vs Bangladesh was the other.

Dean: "I'm a kiwi, but really hoping for a quality game worthy of a semi final today. I think the toss will be pivotal for NZ (to bat first) and hope the noise about the pitch isn't a factor. Come on Kiwis!!"

Deepankar DM : "No offense to SA or Aus, but the general feeling is the winner of this SF will go on to become World champions. For both NZ and India, I would say facing each other at wankhede is a bigger challenge than facing Aus or SA at Ahmedadbad. Whoever overcomes this one should be able to repeat that in the next game."

Michael: "Kiwi here. On my birthday. As I see it we need our steady players to contribute a bit and 2 of our impact players to fire. With a fast century or say 4/30. Conway, Phillips, Boult and Fergusson are those players. Then the game could be ours"

Mehul: "India have ticked all boxes. Now only aspect is how they cope up with pressure in todays game. It will make difference between another Final and getting knocked out!"