Preview: England vs. India - T20 World Cup semi-final prediction, squads, venue, start time

England will take on tournament co-hosts India in Thursday's T20 World Cup semi-final in Mumbai.

The two sides will battle for the right to face South Africa or New Zealand in Sunday's final in Ahmedabad.

Match preview

England are just two wins away from winning a third T20 World Cup after successfully navigating their way to the semi-final stage.

Harry Brook's charges came under fire for their underwhelming performances in the group phase, sneaking past Nepal and losing to the West Indies before coming through in unconvincing fashion against Scotland and Italy.

However, England upped the ante in the Super 8 stage in Sri Lanka, pulling off three victories to coast through to the final four.

In fact, wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan secured a semi-final berth with a game to play, before they chased down New Zealand's 159 total with three balls to spare to claim a fifth consecutive victory.

They looked set to fall short against the Blackcaps until Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed put together a quickfire 44-run partnership to see their country over the line.

England now need to negotiate the daunting test of a semi-final against defending champions India if they are to keep their hopes alive of winning the trophy they previously lifted in 2010 and 2022.

Two defeats in the last three T20 World Cup semi-finals will be a cause for concern, especially as they slumped to a heavy 68-run loss to India at this stage in 2024.

In contrast to England, India's battle to seal a semi-final spot went down their final Super 8 game against the West Indies.

Suryakumar Yadav's charges started the competition in fine form, seeing off USA, Namibia, Pakistan and the Netherlands to finish the group stage with a perfect record.

However, they were given a brutal reality by South Africa in their first Super 8 outing, falling to 111 all out after the Proteas had whacked 187 off their 20 overs.

India bounced back with an emphatic 72-run victory over Zimbabwe to set up a winner-takes-all game against the West Indies.

After the West Indies hit 195 for four of their 20 overs, India chased down the target with four balls to spare thanks to the batting brilliance of Sanju Samson, who struck 97 off 50 balls to see his team home at Eden Gardens.

India are now preparing for their third consecutive T20 World Cup semi-final against England, hoping for a repeat of their comfortable win two years ago rather than the 10-wicket defeat they suffered in Adelaide in 2022.

The tournament co-hosts can draw inspiration from the fact that they pulled off a 4-1 victory on home soil in their most recent T20 series against England, including a 150-run win in Mumbai on February 2, 2025.

Team News

England are likely to keep faith with the out-of-form Jos Buttler, who registered his fifth single-figure score in a row with a duck in Friday's win against New Zealand.

There has been some talk about whether England could look to move Buttler down the order to relieve some of the pressure on his shoulder, although they will surely be reluctant to alter their batting order following a strong run of results.

Ahmed impressed in his first appearance of the tournament, but with Jamie Overton set to return, the leg-spinning all-rounder is likely to drop out of the lineup.

With the bat, Jacks will be looking to continue his red-hot form after collecting player of the match awards in victories over Nepal, Italy, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Having won their last two matches, India could name the same team for a third consecutive match, despite there being some concerns about Abhishek Sharma's form.

While he has made it past 15 on just one occasion in the tournament, Sharma has previously enjoyed success against England, having averaged 55.80 across his five T20 internationals against Thursday's opponents.

As India's leading scorer in the competition, Suryakumar Yadav will have a key role to play with the bat in addition to his role as captain.

Spinner Varun Chakaravarthy could trouble England with the ball, having taken 12 wickets in his seven matches in the tournament.

England squad:

Harry Brook (c), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, Luke Wood

India squad:

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Yadav

T20 World Cup results

England's tournament so far

Group stage:

vs. Nepal: Won by four runs

vs. West Indies: Lost by 30 runs

vs. Scotland: Won by five wickets

vs. Italy: Won by 24 runs

Super 8s:

vs. Sri Lanka: Won by 51 runs

vs. Pakistan: Won by two wickets

vs. New Zealand: Won by four wickets

India's tournament so far

Group stage:

vs. USA: Won by five wickets

vs. Namibia: Won by 10 wickets

vs. Pakistan: Lost by seven wickets

vs. Netherlands: Won by eight wickets

Super 8s:

vs. South Africa: Lost by 76 runs

vs. Zimbabwe: Won by 72 runs

vs. West Indies: Won by five wickets

Where will England vs. India be held?

The semi-final clash will take place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

England have already played two T20 World Cup games at the venue, scraping past Nepal in their opening game before losing to West Indies in their second group match.

As for India, they return to the Wankhede Stadium for the first time since beating the USA in their first outing of the tournament on February 7. They will be more than encouraged by the fact that they have not lost a T20 international at this venue since 2017.

When will England vs. India start?

The semi-final will start at 7pm local time on Thursday, which means it will be a 1:30pm start for UK viewers.

We say: England to win

England will effectively be the away side on Thursday, so they will certainly have their work cut out to get the better of India.

That said, they have the luxury of a long batting lineup, and combined with a varied bowling attack, we think Brook's side could eliminate the tournament co-hosts to advance to the final.