Wankhede track bears a different look for the India v West Indies semi-final

The World T20 semi-final clash between India and West Indies will take place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The previous group matches at the stadium have been pretty high scoring and teams batting second have chased two big totals, one of over 180 and another a record WT20 chase of 229 runs.

For the fans who are expecting a similar track, which had produced a record score 438 in an ODI between India and South Africa, it doesn’t look like that surface. According to reports in the media, the playing surface will not be an out and out batting track like the last 2 games on this venue.

The PTI report quoted a source saying, “There’s an even coating of grass to bind the wicket, but the track would be slower than in earlier games. But it will still be a good T20 wicket.” The semi-final clash in Mumbai has been sold out and over 33,000 spectators will watch the Indian team taking on the Windies for a spot in the finals of the tournament for the 3rd time.

India won the tournament in 2007 and reached the finals in 2014, where they were defeated by Sri Lanka, while the West Indies have won the tournament, beating Sri Lanka in 2012 in Sri Lanka.

The sudden rise in temperature in Mumbai will also have a role to play in the behavior of the track. The last international match to feature India on this ground saw South Africa making 438 and beating India by 214 runs. The loss led to a heated exchange between India team director Ravi Shastri and pitch curator Sudhir Naik on the nature of the pitch.

The World T20 2016 saw its first century, by Chris Gayle who scored 100 in 48 balls to lead West Indies to victory chasing England’s total of 189. In the next match, England got their revenge, when they overhauled South Africa’s humongous 229 with relative ease.

Right before the semi-final Ashwin trolled this fan real bad – Ravichandran Ashwin shuts up Sri Lankan fan on Twitter