'Win Toss and Bat First...': Ex-openers Advice to Rohit Sharma & Co for WC Semi-final Against New Zealand

Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has opined that India must choose to bat first in the World Cup semi-final if they win the toss. India will be taking on New Zealand in the first semi-final of the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup on November 15 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. Several speculations are currently being made about the expected match flow and how India should proceed cautiously against the Black Caps. So, Chopra decided to provide the Indian Cricket Team with some advice ahead of the clash.

IND vs NZ ICC World Cup 2023 Semi Final Live

“Win the toss-bat first. Dew could be a factor later but if India scores close to 300 (I’m not even going ambitious with 330+) in the first innings, India has the bowling to close the game before the dew arrives. Indian bowlers have done it many times in #CWC23 already #IndvsNZ”, he wrote on X.

Several fans seem to agree with the former cricketer-turned-commentator. One of them wrote, “Yes, if Rohit wins the toss and chooses to bat first, it’s a very big challenge crossed. We all hope Rohit wins the toss”.

Another said, “Apart from that it’s a knockout big game, the team bat first is best because if the team score good…chasing pressure will be high in the knockout game…so the team might collapse.”

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Other fans believed that this could be a sign of overconfidence. “That is what we call overconfidence. Why are we afraid of chasing? We have a batting to chase easily”, replied one user.

Another wrote, “What if NZ win the toss and bat first? Why have we already decided that India will bat first? First, they have to win the toss. India have been unlucky in terms of toss.”

India will be heading into their eighth semi-final of the ODI Cricket World Cup on Wednesday, their second-ever against New Zealand. The Men in Blue have emerged victorious in this stage of the competition three times in the previous seven attempts.

Having won the tournament in 2011, India failed to get past the semi-final stage in 2015 against Australia and in 2019 versus New Zealand. In their last knock-out game in this tournament, India were beaten by 18 runs.

They had a good bowling performance against the Kiwis in the first innings at Old Trafford before completely losing the plot in the second half. India’s top order was dismantled completely as KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli all left having scored one run each. Ravindra Jadeja showed immense resilience in the game, smashing 77 runs in 59 balls but it wasn’t enough to win the game for his side.

India have already taken down New Zealand once at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala in the group stage of the World Cup 2023. It will be interesting to see if they can do it one more time in Mumbai to secure their fourth final in the competition’s history.