More from England captain Harry Brook, who swatted away the idea that India’s spin options could cause his side issues.

England could face mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who took 14 wickets in five matches during India’s 4-1 T20 series triumph last year.

Varun dismissed Brook on three occasions but the Yorkshireman bristled at suggestions England struggle against spin, arguing six T20 wins in Sri Lanka this year is ample evidence to reject that idea.

“I feel like England always get a bad rap for playing against spin,” Brook said. “We accepted that before coming into this competition, we were going to face challenges on pitches that can assist spin.

“But we’ve gone to Sri Lanka and we’ve won six games in a row against a subcontinent side who are very good in their own backyard. We’ve got a lot of confidence playing on turning pitches.”

England captain Harry Brook was bullish in the build-up to this semi-final about hopelessly out-of-form opener Jos Buttler, who has amassed just 15 runs in his last five innings and possesses a meagre tournament average of 8.85.

“You don’t have to talk to him too much,” Brook said. “Leaving him alone is probably the best thing to do. He’s been a powerhouse cricketer for many years as we’ve all seen.

“I’ve been asked this question 1,000 times and I think there should be no reason to question why he’s in the team.”

Of the four teams that made the semi-finals, it is fair to say England were not favourites to win this T20 World Cup.

Their semi-final opponents India are the hosts and reigning champions; South Africa were the tournament’s outstanding team with a paper-perfect T20 team right until they lost to New Zealand in yesterday’s semi-final, as the Black Caps once again demonstrated their matchplay nous at the business end of these things.

Meanwhile, England have mostly fumbled their way here. They struggled past Nepal, lost to West Indies and it wasn’t entirely smooth against Scotland or Italy either. Their opening partnership, between Phil Salt and Jos Buttler, averages 12 runs and lasts nine balls.

And yet, as the Indian camp prepares to face England, the image that comes to mind is of puzzled looks, furrowed brows and pens poised intently over blank notepads. How do you prepare for a team’s in-form batter at No 7? How do you lay traps for a captain whose wagon wheel covers every corner of the ground? How do you bowl at an opener whose hands appear to have detached from his body? In short, how do you beat this England?

India have plenty of strength in depth but could lean towards selecting the same XI that defeated West Indies in what was effectively a quarter-final for them.

There are question marks over Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel’s places with Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar and Mohammed Siraj waiting in the wings.

Possible India XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

England selected Rehan Ahmed for their final Super 8 match against New Zealand. Ahmed impressed taking two wickets and scoring a vital 19* helping England to a four-wicket win.

He replaced Jamie Overton for that game and England face a decision on whether to restore the seamer or stick with Ahmed for the semi-final.

Possible England XI: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid

England vs India will begin at 1.30pm GMT on Thursday 5 March at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the semi-final live on Sky Sports with coverage beginning at 1pm. A live stream will be available via Sky Go.

Two of the favourites to win the T20 World Cup will battle it out at the semi-final stage as England take on India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Today’s semi-final pits the two pre-tournament favourites against each other with the hosts, India, seeking to reach Sunday’s showpiece as they hope to defend the title they won in 2024.

India finished second in their Super 8s group having pulled off a great escape against the West Indies in their final match with Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 97 inspiring a chase of 196 with four balls remaining.

That victory sets them on a collision course with Harry Brook’s England who started the tournament slowly but won all three of their Super 8 matches to top Group B and reach the final four.

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the T20 World Cup semi-final between England and India.

A place in the final against New Zealand is at stake, so stick with us for full coverage