Mumbai, March 5 (IANS) Shivam Dube’s childhood coach, Satish Samant, has said that the all-rounder will play a huge role in India’s semi-final clash against England at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

Other than Dube, Samant feels that captain Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma will also impress as all the players have a good idea of the conditions because they play for their Indian Premier League (IPL) side Mumbai Indians at the same ground.

“I think the players of the Mumbai Indians are more accustomed to playing on this surface, as they have a lot of practice here. Hardik is there, and Suryakumar is the captain. Shivam also has a very important role to play,” Satish Samant told IANS

Meanwhile, Dube has been a standout performer for India in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026, particularly as a “crisis man” in the middle order. Across 7 matches in the tournament so far, he has scored 166 runs at an average of 33.20 and a strike rate of 156.60.

However, his bowling has been a big concern as he has taken just five wickets at an economy of 13.28 in the seven matches played so far.

Samant also spoke about the pitch and the playing conditions ahead of the encounter. He feels that there could be an extra bounce on the surface, and fast bowlers can make good use of it at the start of the innings. Samant advised India to opt to bowl first after winning the toss as dew could be a big factor at Wankhede.

“I think about the semifinal match we watched yesterday. The way New Zealand batted in that game, the pitch may behave in a similar manner. There could be a little extra bounce, and usually fast bowlers get some additional bounce from such a surface,” he said.

“If India wins the toss, then bowling first is compulsory as during this season, dew comes and it will be difficult for bowlers to defend a big total, so I think they should choose to bowl after winning the toss,” he added.

–IANS

sds/