IND vs NZ semifinal | Patchy form will have no bearing on November 15, says Ferguson

New Zealand cricket players are seen during a practice session ahead of the first semifinal against India in Mumbai on November 13, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

No team has been able to take a game deep against India in the 2023 Men’s World Cup league stage. If at all a side has asked some question of Rohit Sharma’s men, it’s the two trans-Tasman teams.

The lesser-fancied of those two teams has emerged as the bogey team for India in the ICC tournaments, especially knockouts, of late. No wonder New Zealand is hoping to build on not only the recent ICC history but also the league game in Dharamsala three weeks ago.

“It was a hard-fought game. I thought that has been extremely well, to get a great total on that. And of course, with one-day cricket and playing against India, there is a lot of ebbs and flows,” said Lockie Ferguson, the New Zealand pacer, on Monday evening ahead of the team’s first training session at the Wankhede Stadium.

While India has been unstoppable, New Zealand has had a rollercoaster ride so far in the World Cup. After starting the tournament with four wins, New Zealand lost the next four ties before sealing the fourth place in the semifinal with a convincing win against Sri Lanka.

Ferguson indicated that the patchy form in the league stage will have no bearing come Wednesday. “Part of tournament cricket and certainly World Cup cricket. Every team we play here is an exceptional team and have done their homework, done their scouting and we had a couple of close games that didn’t quite go away and a rain -affected one,” Ferguson said. 

“That’s the joy of tournament cricket and nice to bounce back in our last round rubbing to find ourselves here but from our point of view ,those nine games have got us to this position and we kind of all start from zero again. So come Wednesday, it will be a good challenge.”