T20 World Cup 2022: Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid assess pitch conditions at Adelaide Oval, indulge in long discussion

The Adelaide Oval, which will host the second T20 World Cup semi-final between England and India, has unusual field specifications. It has one of the longest straight boundaries in the world, measuring 90 meters, but the same cannot be said for the square boundaries. In contrast to Melbourne's MCG, hitters in Adelaide aim for the square boundaries to score as many runs as possible.

And that's also one of the main reasons why numerous pitches aren't utilized, even during a competition like the World Cup, because excessive deviation on either side of the center strip would make one part of the boundary extremely short, giving a specific type of batsman an undue advantage. And that is the reason why India and England will not play their semi-final fixture on a fresh pitch.

The two teams are set to lock horns at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, November 10, for the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022. And given the conditions at the Adelaide Oval, the match will happen on the pitch that has already been used during the Super-12 stage of the tournament.

In a video shasred by journalist Vimal Kumar, India skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid were seen indulging in a lengthy discussion with the pitch curator on the ground. Dravid was the first to approach the center strip during India's first optional practice session before the semi-final. He took a close look before addressing the curator for a prolonged conversation as Sharma and India’s fielding coach T Dilip joined him.

Pitch conditions will decide India's playign XI

India may think about deploying Yuzvendra Chahal if the game plays at all like the most recent Super 12 contests between South Africa-Netherlands and Pakistan-Bangladesh. If not, continuing with Rishabh Pant instead of Dinesh Karthik may be necessary to offset the extra bounce.

Rohit Sharma hasn’t been in the best of form this season, but he will need to strike at the top while facing England’s finest bowlers. India will need both Sharma and KL Rahul to fire from the beginning so as to keep the team in a commanding position. Neither of them made it to the finals last year, which makes the upcoming fixture even more important and crucial for the two sides.