England will face India on a used pitch at Adelaide Oval

England cricket fans are excited that their team’s T20 World Cup semi-final against India will be played on a used adelaide oval pitch. The English team learned on Tuesday that they would play on the same pitch that staged new Zealand-Ireland and Australia-Afghanistan double headers last Friday.

The pitch used has been like an Achilles heel in the past but England have beaten New Zealand and Sri Lanka on such wickets. However, that hasn’t stopped the English media and team fans from taking aim at the issue, with many insisting that a new pitch should be used for a game of this magnitude.

More concern from England’s point of view, the concern is centred around the perception that the wicket used will be more suitable for India’s spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel than England’s Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali.

Paul Newman termed the decision to play such a big match on a used pitch as “extraordinary” which has been defended by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

“The ICC has no rules regarding the use of only fresh or used pitches for any match in an ICC event,” an ICC spokesperson said. “What we need is the best possible pitch for every game. It is not necessary that a ‘new’ pitch will be better than a pitch used earlier. Newman’s criticism of the pitch has been shared on social media by other England cricket fans, with some accusing the ICC of bias towards India.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes said ahead of Thursday night’s clash that his side will have to adjust to unfamiliar field dimensions in Adelaide, which are long straight and short squares.

While he was presented with similar measurements against Sri Lanka in Sydney – where Stokes smashed an unbeaten 42 off 36 balls to give England victory, which ensured the top two finishes in their Super 12s group ahead of Ashes rivals Australia – the difference is more pronounced in Adelaide. “I think we’ll have to wait and see what the wicket does on Thursday.

“It’s about assessing and adapting to whatever situation you have before you. But we are playing on big posts and trying to hit the batsmen, while here we will probably have to try to change our strategy.

England have reached at least the semi-final stage of every International Cricket Council (ICC) tournament since 2015, but their only global success at the time was the 50-over World Cup in 2019 at home.