T20 WC, IND vs SCO Highlights: India wins, Keeps semifinals hopes alive

India knocked off the target in just 6.3 overs.

5:26 PM

We'll give our everything to beat India, says Scotland captain Coetzer

Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer insisted that his team will try to give their everything against India in the Group 2 match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup to be held in Dubai on Friday. He added that it would be a formidable challenge for his team against India, the 2007 champions.

 

"We have to focus on what we're really good at and what's going to give us the best chance of winning the game of cricket. We'll do our homework on India, as any team will do, and we know the skills they've got within their camp. When we go into that game, we can't fear the players, but we've got to respect them. We'll go in trying to give it everything we've got," said Coetzer in the pre-match press conference on Thursday.

 

"It's a formidable challenge coming up against a very strong Indian team full of exciting players. We've got to try to push that to one side, to be honest, and just try and take on the challenges that we face in front of us on the day," added Coetzer.

 

Coetzer brought up the challenge of batting first being a point of problem for the teams. "I think one of the challenges in this tournament has been setting a total has actually been quite tricky. There's been wickets that have gone down early in a number of the innings. Although you look at the Indian scorecard yesterday, and that clearly wasn't the case. So, there's a big partnership and a big total put on the board."

5:10 PM

Varun Chakravarthy sweats it out on Diwali, undergoes fitness drills ahead of Scotland game

Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy hit the ICC Academy in Dubai on Thursday ahead of the game against Scotland in the ICC T20 World Cup.

While the Indian squad decided to skip the optional training session on Diwali, the spinner underwent fitness drills under the watchful eyes of physio Nitin Patel and assistant strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai.

A left calf issue had seen him miss Wednesday's game against Afghanistan and off-spinner R Ashwin was drafted into the XI. The experienced campaigner made it a night to remember as he finished with two wickets and was impressive as he bowled in partnership with Ravindra Jadeja.

Commenting on returning to the white-ball team, Ashwin said: "The news I got selected for the World Cup was very heartening news. I had fun after hearing the news in terms of enjoying myself and gratification from what I wanted to achieve in life. That was one side of it, I had a special dream of being there in the World Cup and doing special things for the team."

5:10 PM

Varun Chakravarthy sweats it out on Diwali, undergoes fitness drills ahead of Scotland game

Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy hit the ICC Academy in Dubai on Thursday ahead of the game against Scotland in the ICC T20 World Cup.

While the Indian squad decided to skip the optional training session on Diwali, the spinner underwent fitness drills under the watchful eyes of physio Nitin Patel and assistant strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai.

A left calf issue had seen him miss Wednesday's game against Afghanistan and off-spinner R Ashwin was drafted into the XI. The experienced campaigner made it a night to remember as he finished with two wickets and was impressive as he bowled in partnership with Ravindra Jadeja.

Commenting on returning to the white-ball team, Ashwin said: "The news I got selected for the World Cup was very heartening news. I had fun after hearing the news in terms of enjoying myself and gratification from what I wanted to achieve in life. That was one side of it, I had a special dream of being there in the World Cup and doing special things for the team."

5:09 PM

Michael Jones replaces injured Joshua Davey in Scotland squad

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 on Thursday approved Michael Jones as a replacement for Joshua Davey in the Scotland squad.

 

Right-hand batter Jones, who has played nine ODIs, was named as a replacement after Davey was ruled out due to a groin injury. Jones was a reserve as per the allowance for teams to travel with extra players in view of COVID-19 quarantine requirements.

 

The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.

 

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 consists of Chris Tetley (Head of Events, Chair), Clive Hitchcock (ICC Senior Cricket Operations Manager), Rahul Dravid and Dhiraj Malhotra (BCCI Representatives), Simon Doull and Ian Bishop (Independent Members).

4:41 PM

IND vs SCO Playing 11 prediction

 

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Varun Chakaravarthy/Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

 

Scotland: George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer (c), Matthew Cross (wk), Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Safyaan Sharif, Alasdair Evans, Bradley Wheal

4:41 PM

IND vs SCO SQUADS

 

 

India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami

 

Reserves: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel; Mentor: MS Dhoni

 

Scotland: George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer(c), Matthew Cross(w), Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Safyaan Sharif, Alasdair Evans, Bradley Wheal, Hamza Tahir, Dylan Budge, Craig Wallace, Josh Davey

4:33 PM

Preview

Virat Kohli and boys got their much-needed win on the board against Afghanistan in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup and now the side would look to rack up their second win of the tournament.

 

India will next lock horns against Scotland at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday and the side would hope to register a comprehensive victory to further boost their net run rate in order to remain in the hunt for the qualification for semi-finals.

 

In the match against Afghanistan, everything fell into place for Kohli and the boys. Batting first, India managed to score 210 runs as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul went all guns blazing for the Men in Blue.

 

Rohit returned to open against Afghanistan and his impact was there for everyone to see as he made full use of the powerplay overs. Rahul played a second fiddle, but he picked up his tempo later on.

 

Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant proved why they are viewed as game changers and both of them scored runs at a brisk pace, taking India's score past the 200-run mark. The batting order must be filled with confidence now, and one can expect them to go all guns blazing against Scotland.

 

Ravichandran Ashwin was given his first game in the ongoing competition and he proved why people asking for his inclusion in the side were right. The off-spinner returned with figures of 2-14 in his four overs and he was the main reason why Men in Blue managed to maintain a stranglehold over the Afghanistan batting order.

 

Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, Hardik, and Ravindra Jadeja also chipped in and India gave a complete performance against Afghanistan. The good thing heading into the Scotland game is that every department is filled with confidence.

 

The Men in Blue also need to keep an eye on their run rate, so one can expect Kohli and team to go hell for leather from ball number one.

 

Scotland is yet to register a victory in the Super 12 stage but they cannot be taken lightly as they gave New Zealand a run for their money on Wednesday. Chasing 173, Scotland fell just 16 runs short, so the Men in Blue need to bring their A-game to register a win.

 

Squads: India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami.

 

Scotland: Kyle Coetzer (captain), Richard Berrington, Dylan Budge, Matthew Cross (wk), Josh Davey, Ally Evans, Chris Greaves, Michael Leask, Calum Macleod, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Hamza Tahir, Craig Wallace, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal.