David Beckham will reportedly be at the Wankheded Stadium, alongside Sachin Tendulkar, for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final between India and New Zealand in Mumbai.
News18 Cricketnext has learnt, Beckham and Tendulkar are likely to walk out with World Cup trophy before the start of the match.
The former England footballer and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador is on a three-day visit to India and is expected to be in the VVIP stands along with former cricketers, film personalities and sports stars.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) have partnered with UNICEF to empower women and girls and promote inclusion and gender equality through cricket.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
As for the contest on the field, Indian men’s cricket team have not reached any of the last five finals in ICC white-ball World Cups, while New Zealand have never won one, despite reaching three finals in seven years. The India versus New Zealand Cricket World Cup is a repeat of the 2019 semi at Old Trafford in Manchester, with the Kiwis prevailing on that occasion.
In the 2023 edition, the Indians have been unbeaten in the World Cup so far, winning all nine league games to storm into the semifinal. New Zealand had an up-and-down campaign in the World Cup 2023. They started on a good note by winning their first four matches but lost momentum when they suffered four successive defeats before sealing their place in the semifinal by beating Sri Lanka handsomely in their ninth match.
History beckons for an India side who are looking for a first major tournament win in 12 years, and where better for this semi-final to be held than at the venue where India won their last Cricket World Cup back in 2011. This generation of New Zealand cricketers are the nearly-side of the white-ball game, with many of the players to have lost the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final in 2021 and Cricket World Cup finals in 2015 and 2019 still involved in the set-up.
Kane Williamson’s team also came out on top in the inaugural World Test Championship final two years ago and have had the better of the Men in Blue when it matters most.
Should the India juggernaut roll on, the two-time world champions will face Australia or South Africa in the Nov. 19 final in Ahmedabad.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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