As New Zealand prepare to take on India in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on 15 November, it is impossible not to look back at the parallels with 2019, writes former Kiwi skipper Ross Taylor in this special column
Four years ago, India went into the semi-final in Manchester as the form side in the tournament, while we were more focused on ensuring that our net run-rate kept Pakistan out of reach for the final spot in the top four. This time around, India are even bigger favourites, at home and having played so well during the group stage.
But when we have nothing to lose, New Zealand teams can be dangerous. If there is a team that India will be nervous facing, it will be this New Zealand side.
We’re up against it, of course, but that was also the case in 2019. That was a two-day one-day game. It was a strange situation for me, I was not out overnight. That is nerve-wracking enough in Test cricket, let alone a one-dayer and a World Cup semi-final.
At Old Trafford, I’d say the crowd was probably about 80 per cent Indian, with a sprinkling of New Zealand friends and family, and then some English.
We had to back ourselves in that game. South Africa had just scored 300 there, so most commentators thought we were crazy because we were scoring pretty slowly, but Kane Williamson and myself were confident that 240-250 would be a competitive total.