While admitting his side could take "confidence" from beating England earlier in the summer, the India skipper does not want his side to become complacent against a "dangerous" England side
Rohit Sharma has played down the expectations on India heading into their T20 World Cup semi-final, stating his side will "have to be at our best" to beat England in Adelaide.
India were among the pre-tournament favourites and maintained that position after finishing top in group two in the Super 12s. They head into Thursday's clash with a strong head to head record against England, completing a 2-1 series win as recently as July and winning four of the five most recent meetings between the two sides.
Sharma, however, is not prepared to let his side become complacent against a "dangerous" England side.
"Certainly, going into the game it'll give us confidence because beating a team like England in England, it's a big challenge and we overcame that pretty well," he said.
"But we understand the dynamics of T20 cricket. You have to be good on that particular day, otherwise it's not good enough. Also, a lot of the guys who played in that series are not part of this team.
"In the back of our mind, we can have confidence, but tomorrow's game is a fresh game. We just need to be better than them to come out on top. All records of the past, I don't think it's going to matter.
Arshdeep Singh has stepped up in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah [Sarah Reed/Getty Images]
"We can't go into the game thinking we've beaten this guy or beaten this team and it [will] happen again just like that. These guys are quite dangerous. They've played some really good cricket in the tournament, so we've got to be at our best to win the game."
Sharma was also keen to stress that India's recent lack of silverware (Asia Cup wins aside) and individual player records in knockout matches shouldn't determine the legacy of generational talents like Virat Kohli.
India have a frustrating record in ICC events in recent years. Since being crowned the inaugural T20 world champions in 2007, India have reached the final just once in six attempts and bowed in the semi-finals of their home tournament in 2016. In Cricket World Cups, their luck has been no better, exiting in the semi-finals in 2015 and 2019, while in the 2017 Champions Trophy, they lost to Pakistan in the final.
"Knockout games are important. You only get to play once and there's only one opportunity to do well," he said.
"But we do not forget what has happened in the past, what players have done in the past. All the performances they've put in for the team over the year, that one game cannot be dictating that. There's a lot of effort goes into playing for the country – getting runs, getting wickets – so I don't believe that one bad game in the knockout can define what kind of player you are.
"For us as players, as a team, I think we can pride ourselves to be here at this point because we saw two quality teams were knocked out – anything can happen in this format. We can take a lot of credit and pride in where we have come. We've done one part [of the tournament] really well, there are two more parts to go."
On paper, India's journey to the semi-final has been fairly routine, topping group two by two points and losing just one of their five matches in the Super 12s – a tight five-wicket defeat against South Africa. However, it hasn't all been plain sailing, with the twin absences of Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah hampering their chances before they even arrived in Australia.
Fortunately, there has been no shortage of players stepping up with match-winning performances. Arshdeep Singh has excelled with the ball, picking up a team-leading 10 wickets, Kohli has sparkled with 246 runs (three half-centuries) at a strike rate of 138.98 and KL Rahul has bounced back from three single-figure knocks to finish the Super 12s with back-to-back half-centuries.
Suryakumar Yadav has been one of the standout players of the tournament [Quinn Rooney/Getty Images]
However, the player who has well and truly stolen the limelight, and who England will want to see back in the dugout swiftly, is Suryakumar Yadav. The batter has bludgeoned 225 runs (three half-centuries) at a rate of 193.96 and delivered player of the match-winning performances against the Netherlands and Zimbabwe.
"That's probably his nature, he doesn't carry any baggage with him," Sharma said, addressing Yadav's fearless style of play. "He's been playing like that for a year now and it shows. You can judge the kind of character he is, and he likes to play like that.
"He likes to bat in a similar fashion [whether] we were 10 for 2 or 100 for 2. He likes to go out and express himself, and that's probably the reason he was in the team in the last World Cup.
"The sky is the limit for him. He's shown great maturity, has taken pressure from a lot of the guys [with] the way he plays, and it rubs off when they bat around him."
Looking ahead to Thursday's clash with England, Sharma has no concerns about his own fitness after being struck on the hand in training – "a little bruising but it’s absolutely fine" – but is not ready to reveal who will take the wicketkeeping gloves.
Dinesh Karthik featured in the first four matches but was replaced by Rishabh Pant against Zimbabwe, a "tactical decision" to give the latter some game time in case they wish to make changes in the knockout stages.