After a tremendous display in the Super 10 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup 2016, India and West Indies have set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Going into a match of such grave importance, players from both teams will be feeling the heat and it will be a true test of nerves on Thursday.
While the West Indies started well and qualified for the semis after winning their first 3 matches, the Indians had to wait until their last encounter against Australia to make the last four. It may be difficult to pick a winner in this high-octane contest, but there are a few factors which may influence the eventual result of the game.
Here we take a closer look at 5 prominent ones:
How the Indian bowlers fare against Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle is surely going to be the biggest threat to India's chances of making it to the final of yet another edition of the T20 World Cup. As such, the performance of the Indian bowlers against the big West Indian will be crucial in terms of determining which of the two teams will be playing at the Eden Gardens on 3 April.
Considering Gayle's vast experience of playing in the IPL, most of the bowlers are well aware of his strengths and weaknesses. Similarly, the Jamaican southpaw also has enough knowledge of the lines and variations that each of the bowlers in India's current line-up can come up with.
One of the Indian bowlers who has enjoyed quite a lot of success against Chris Gayle in T20 cricket is off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. In 9 innings, Ashwin has managed to get rid of Gayle on 4 occasions and has conceded his runs at less than a run per ball.
If India can get Chris Gayle early, they may be able to dictate terms in the match. On the other hand, a special effort from the left-hander may effectively put India out of the tournament.
How the pitch at the Wankhede stadium behaves
From what we have seen in the tournament so far, the track at the Wankhede Stadium is expected to produce another run feast in the India-West Indies semi-final clash. However, the story may turn out to be a different one, going by what the curator at the stadium has said about the pitch recently.
He has revealed that the pitch will be sporting in nature and will generate more bounce than the previous matches. But he did maintain that the batsmen will be able to play shots on the rise. If things go as per what the curator has confirmed, both teams have the firepower in their bowling attack to make use of the extra bounce.
However, the batsmen may find it a little difficult to adjust early on as they have been used to slowish pitches throughout the tournament. This could be a problem area for the Indians, in particular, as they have played most of their games on rank turners.
How well Indian batsmen other than Virat Kohli play
Team India has depended more on Virat Kohli in this edition of the T20 World Cup than the West Indies have done on Chris Gayle. On at least two occasions in the tournament, Kohli has almost single-handedly taken India to victory with a couple of brilliant knocks.
However, considering the importance of a semi-final clash, the Indians can least afford to depend on just one man to do the job for them. Apart from Kohli, the only other batsman who looks to be in decent form is skipper MS Dhoni. Everyone else seems to be struggling for form and it could be a big problem for India if either Kohli or Dhoni has an off day, the former more so.
At least one among Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina will have to step up and produce a good performance to ensure that the Indian team does not have to rely solely on Virat Kohli to produce the goods.
How the spinners will come into play
Spinners have got decent purchase from the Wankhede pitch thus far. However, there has not been as much impact from them compared to how they have fared in venues like Nagpur and Kolkata.
But things may be better for spin bowlers in the semi-final clash between India and West Indies. The reason for this is the fact that there is likely to be more bounce on the pitch as suggested by the curator and it may provide the spinners that extra zip required to put pressure on the batsmen.
If spin does have a significant role to play during the match, the Indian team could have an advantage, considering the quality of their spin attack and the availability of good part-time spinners.
How the teams will handle pressure
As is the case in any knockout game at major ICC events, the India-West Indies semi-final at the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 will be a high-pressure match. The team which is able to respond better to the pressure will be the one that will emerge victorious at the end of the game and qualify for the final on 3 April 2016.
Among the two teams, the Indian team has clearly seen much more pressure in the tournament than the West Indies. Their road to the semi-final included a nerve-wracking 1-run victory over the Bangladesh side and a fighting win against Australia in their last Super 10 game.
West Indies, on the other hand, virtually cruised to victory in their first 3 games and their only close game was against minnows Afghanistan, which they lost by 6 runs. However, the semi-final will be a completely different proposition and it will be interesting to see which of the two sides can handle pressure more adeptly.
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