T20 World Cup 2022: "They do not bat aggressively enough early on" - Michael Vaughan points out India's weakness ahead of semi-final against England

Former cricketer Michael Vaughan has observed that India's cautious approach at the start of the innings is prone to building pressure. Hence, Vaughan reckons England bowlers should fancy their chances of squeezing the Men in Blues' batting line-up in the initial overs during the T20 World Cup semi-final on Thursday, November 10.

India's opening pair of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have been inconsistent in the Super 12 stage, having failed to build solid partnerships.

While Rahul has returned to form with successive half-centuries in the last two games, the skipper has struggled, with his highest of 53 in the competition coming against the Netherlands.

In his column for The Telegraph, the 48-year-old opined:

"I have watched India play a lot of T20 cricket and they do not bat aggressively enough early on, so the pressure builds. If they make 180 or 190, it is because Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav or Dinesh Karthik has fired in the final few overs."

The Ashes-winning captain also backed the English bowlers to keep Virat Kohli quiet as he also takes his time to settle in. Vaughan feels Jos Buttler has to set attacking fields to encourage the Indian batters to go over the top.

He stated:

"When bowling to Virat Kohli, you can keep him quiet at the start. He is world-class but, with a tight field, you can restrict him in his first few balls because he just looks to settle in rather than go after boundaries.

"Most of the India side play that way, so if Jos Buttler is smart, he can put the squeeze on them. Sometimes you can put another fielder in the circle and challenge them to hit over the top because they do not always want to do that."

Yadav and Kohli have been India's best batters in the tournament as they are amongst the highest run-getters. With 246 runs in five innings at 123, Kohli is at the top. Yadav, on the other hand, has accumulated 225 in as many innings, but at a jaw-dropping strike rate of 193.48. They have to fire on Thursday for India to go past England.

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"Sam Curran has become one of the best in the world in this format" - Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan. (Image Credits: Getty)

Vaughan underlined that England's pace bowlers, notably Mark Wood and Sam Curran, must bring their A-game as India might target their spinners. Lavishing praise on Curran's death-bowling abilities, he added:

"The area India will try to target is spin, so Wood, with his pace, is so important. Sam Curran has become one of the best in the world in this format. His ability to read the batsman's intentions by watching them until the last second and then bowling the hardest ball to hit at that moment is remarkable. He has become Buttler’s “go-to” bowler."

Curran has indeed been magnificent with the ball, picking up 10 wickets in four games at 9.40 apiece at an economy rate of 6.40. However, England face an injury concern as Wood did not participate in the penultimate training session, citing 'general stiffness'.