BD NarayankarMumbai, March 4 -- If cricket were a religion - and in India it frequently masquerades as one - then Thursday evening at the Wankhede Stadium will resemble a grand congregation. The occasion is India versus England in the semifinal of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The mood is hopeful, anxious and faintly combative.
The English once arrived on our shores in ships; today they arrive with spreadsheets, video analysts and bats thick enough to chop firewood. In 2022, they dismantled India in a semifinal so efficiently that it felt like a bureaucratic exercise. India retaliated in 2024 with equal authority. Now the ledger reads one-all, and both sides would very much like to write the final entry in bold ink.
India's strength lies n...