India vs. New Zealand
- What: ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final
- When: Tuesday 9 July
- Where: Old Trafford, Manchester
- Start time: 10.30am BST
- TV channel: live on Sky Sports
Never say die for the Kiwis
New Zealand face India on Tuesday in the first Cricket World Cup semi-final and the Kiwis are the rank outsiders at Old Trafford.
Having lost their last three group matches, New Zealand know they must produce the performance of a lifetime to beat Virat Kohli’s team.
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“I’m not spending a lot of time worrying about what other people are thinking, whether we should be here or not,” remarked head coach Gary Stead.
“I said right from the very start whoever we play, we going to have to be somewhere near our very best to beat. That’s the excitement, that’s the challenge in front of us.
“Hopefully you’ll see what Kiwis are made of out there as well, that ‘no-die’ attitude and I guess stand up when we need to.”
Rohit: keep focused amid expectations
India star batsman Rohit Sharma has urged the squad to keep their focus ahead of the semi-final against New Zealand.
Admitting that expectations from fans to win the World Cup is becoming a distraction, Rohit said: “A lot of people are staying in the same hotel as us who want us to win the World Cup, who want us to score runs, score centuries.
“So you kind of want to stay away from all of that because eventually our job is to do that, our job is to come here, play good cricket and win the World Cup, we all know that.
“But constantly yapping in anyone’s ear is not right. So I think for us as cricketers, it’s important for us to just completely put that away and focus on the job at hand.
“It is very difficult. Trust me because you’re in that fraternity where you meet so many people. They will talk about how well you’re batting, how many runs you’re getting, how many hundreds you’ve scored.
“But to just keep away from all that is very important.”
Australia take on England in the second World Cup semi-final on Thursday 11 July at Edgbaston.
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