"Moeen Ali is a player who can trouble us" - Aakash Chopra on threats for India in 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final vs England

Aakash Chopra has picked Moeen Ali as one of the potential threats for India in their 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final clash against England. He pointed out that the spin-bowling all-rounder could trouble the Men in Blue with both ball and bat.

The two sides will square off in the second last-four clash in Providence, Guyana, on Thursday, June 27. The winner will face South Africa in the final in Barbados two days later (June 29), with the Proteas having already registered an emphatic nine-wicket win in the first semi-final against Afghanistan in Trinidad.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, and Harry Brook could be the batting threats for India along with Moeen as an all-rounder.

"Who could be the threats from the opposing team? Firstly the two openers, whose numbers are not that good against left-arm spin. Then Axar Patel is an important player. You can concentrate more on him. You can focus on Ravindra Jadeja because they are having difficulties against left-arm spin," he elaborated (9:05).

"After that, Harry Brook in batting, and I feel Moeen Ali is a player who can trouble us. He will bowl off-spin and we have four left-handers. Actually not even four, we have Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh," the former India opener added.

Chopra noted that Moeen could be dangerous because of the plethora of left-handers in India's lineup and his batting ability against spin.

"Did we have these many left-handers before this? Since there are so many left-handers, Moeen Ali might have a role, and if we talk about playing spin, Moeen Ali plays spin better. So Moeen Ali could be that dangerous guy. He is this team's vice-captain," he observed.

Moeen has picked up three wickets at a reasonable economy rate of 8.11 in nine overs in the 2024 T20 World Cup. The left-handed batter has aggregated 63 runs at an average of 15.75 and a strike rate of 153.65 in four innings.

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"Sam Curran isn't doing that well but he will like this kind of pitch" - Aakash Chopra

Sam Curran has picked up two wickets in 10 overs in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

Aakash Chopra reckons Chris Jordan and Sam Curran could pose threats to India in the bowling department.

"Chris Jordan came back in the last match and took a hat-trick as soon as he came. It seemed like his career had been put on ice. He was pulled out from there and he picked up four wickets. Sam Curran isn't doing that well but he will like this kind of pitch, where he will roll his fingers over the ball," he said (9:45).

While observing that Liam Livingstone's all-round skills and Jofra Archer's seam bowling could pose challenges, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that Adil Rashid had bamboozled India in the last edition's semi-final.

"Liam Livingstone's bowling and batting is a slightly tricky thing. Jofra Archer hasn't looked that great but he is a wicket-taker and he knows these grounds well. Reece Topley/Mark Wood - don't know who will play. Adil Rashid had trapped us (in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final) and forced us to hit in one direction," Chopra stated.

With nine scalps apiece, Archer and Rashid are England's most successful bowlers in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Jordan has picked up seven wickets in just 10.5 overs, including a spell of 4/10 in their last Super 8 clash against the United States of America.