India, England Won’t Have Any Secrets To Throw at Each Other, Says Curran

Mumbai: India and England, who will be playing in their third successive T20 World Cup semi-final, will have no secrets to tell each other here on Thursday, said Sam Curran, hoping his side can produce a “perfect game” after a topsy-turvy campaign so far.

India and England won one of these semi-finals and then went on to lift the T20 World Cup. England clinched the trophy by defeating India by 10 wickets in 2022, while India clinched their second title in 2024 after 78 wins in 2024.

“It’s good to play on the field a lot of times, so there aren’t many unknowns for us,” Curran told reporters here ahead of England’s training session at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.

“We have two days of training now, so we will get used to the environment, the dressing room, the dimensions of the ground etc. You play in these stadiums so much that you get used to different conditions.

“We play a lot with fans, opponents, Indian players, so there will be no secrets about what each team will throw at each other,” he added.

England have had their share of ups and downs in the tournament, including a tense four-run win over Nepal. Their two-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Super Eight stage was largely due to the individual brilliance of Harry Brook, who hit an epic hundred.

“It doesn’t really matter anymore; it’s down to the World Cup semi-final. If there’s ever a time when we want to play our perfect game, it’s probably on Thursday night,” Curran said.

“We have all contributed at different times but we know that in T20 cricket we probably just have a few guys playing well with bat and ball.”

Thursday’s Wankhede is expected to be the loudest for India and Curran knows how “quiet” it will be in what is expected to be a high-scoring contest.

“It’s a fantastic stadium, it’s absolutely iconic. I’m sure it’ll be very quiet on Thursday night,” Curran said with a smile.

“As a young cricketer, you dream of playing India in the semi-finals of the World Cup. Normally it’s a pretty good wicket, a small pitch, so I’m probably expecting a really high-scoring game,” he added.

Despite the reigning champions’ confident display so far, Curran says his team will not be intimidated

“India are a quality team but we have played a lot of cricket here. Most of our team (players) have played in the IPL and against India. We are not afraid of anything and I’m sure both teams are really excited about the Thursday night clash and hopefully it will be an excellent game for us,” he continued.

Three of the four semi-finalists in this edition are from outside the Indian subcontinent and Curran said this came down to adaptability.

“This tournament has been a bit challenging for us in terms of (how) we have faced a lot of different circumstances, like playing in Sri Lanka and of course playing a few games here and in Kolkata,” Curran said.

“We’ve adapted extremely well. You could probably say that teams outside the subcontinent have adapted really well, I guess, to the conditions that have been attributed to them.”

And most of the credit for this goes to the melting pot that is the IPL.

“We all play a lot of cricket in India now, so we know how to play on these grounds and we know what to expect and the IPL has undoubtedly helped the players a lot in that regard.

“South Africa, New Zealand are great teams and we’re a really good team too. And of course India. I think the top four teams will be in the semi-finals and we’ll see who gets the cup,” Curran added.

In February last year, India and England had faced off here at the Wankhede Stadium in a T20I contest remembered for world No. 1 Abhishek Sharma’s 54-ball 135, studded with 13 sixes and seven boundaries.

As the pressure increases on Abhishek, who is currently struggling, to make big runs, Curran was hopeful that history would not repeat itself.

“Hopefully Abhishek doesn’t experience the same knock again. We have planned very well for the match and remain focused on Thursday night,” Curran added.