SAM CURRAN has declared England are "not fearing anything" ahead of their T20 World Cup semi-final against India in Mumbai on Thursday (5), saying their familiarity with Indian conditions through the IPL leaves them with few unknowns ahead of the high-stakes Wankhede showdown.
England face the hosts and favourites in front of 35,000 fiercely partisan fans, with a place in Sunday's (8) final in Ahmedabad against either South Africa or New Zealand at stake.
Curran, who was out of the international reckoning a year ago before forcing his way back into the squad with eye-catching displays in T20 franchise cricket, said the IPL had been central to England's preparation.
"It's an experience as a young cricketer you dream of — playing India in the semi-final of a World Cup," the left-arm seamer told reporters on Tuesday (3). "India are a quality side but we've played a lot of cricket here. We know how to play on these grounds and we know what to expect. The IPL, no question, has helped a lot. Having played in the ground many times, there's not many unknowns."
Curran pointed to the partisan atmosphere as a potential gauge of England's performance. "If the crowd are silent, England are probably going to be doing well," he said. "That's our positive way of looking at it."
He has been one of England's standout performers in the tournament, bowling a nerves-of-steel final over against Nepal — conceding just five runs when the opposition needed ten - before repeating the feat against Italy. With the bat at number six, he has accumulated 149 runs with a best of 43 not out.
India's bowling coach Morne Morkel was equally bullish from the other camp on Wednesday (4), warning his side would need a "special performance" to get past what he described as a "street-smart" England outfit.
India's players celebrate after their team's win in the 2026 ICC Men's T20 Cricket World Cup Super Eights match between India and West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 1, 2026. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP via Getty Images)
"They're a team that's street smart. Obviously there's a lot of quality in their side," said Morkel after India's final training session at the Wankhede. "Their batting is deep, which makes them a very dangerous side. With the ball, they've got a lot of attacking options. The way they approach a T20 game, fearless, trying to take the game on, will give you opportunities. Tomorrow is going to be a good shoot-out between two aggressive teams."
Morkel acknowledged India have not yet produced a complete display in the tournament, despite Sanju Samson's dazzling 97 not out helping them chase down 196 against the West Indies in a winner-takes-all group clash in Kolkata last Sunday (1). He insisted that consistency of performance mattered less than rising to the occasion.
"We haven't really spoken about the perfect game," he said. "It's not about how you get to the semi-finals. It's about the next two games, how we're going to play there. I think the quality of this team has been shown that on the day somebody will put their hand up. Then hopefully, especially tomorrow night, we can put that special performance in."
India left nothing to chance in their preparations. Tuesday's training session was delayed by an hour to avoid coinciding with a lunar eclipse, which is considered inauspicious in India.
Morkel was candid about the decision. "I was told about the lunar eclipse and the session was pushed backwards," he said. "I think the most important thing to focus on was the quality the guys put in at training, which was great to see."
The occasion carries additional weight given India's record on home soil in this fixture. They hosted the T20 World Cup in 2016 and were eliminated in a semi-final at this very ground, losing to eventual champions the West Indies. The memory of that defeat lingers.
This is the third successive T20 World Cup in which the two sides have met at the semi-final stage, and on both previous occasions the winner went on to lift the trophy. In 2022, England hammered India by 10 wickets in Adelaide before beating Pakistan in the Melbourne final. Two years later, India exacted revenge in Guyana, winning by 68 runs before defeating South Africa in the Barbados final.
England have been inconsistent in the group phase but found form when it mattered, winning all three of their Super Eights matches against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand.
South Africa face New Zealand in the first semi-final on Wednesday, with the final to be played in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
(AFP)
