ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Team India will take on New Zealand in semifinal one of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. The semifinal is a repeat of the clash between the two sides in the 2019 ODI World Cup in Trent Bridge which the Black Caps won by 18 runs.

Astrologer Sumit Bajaj made his exclusive predictions for the India vs New Zealand clash to Zee News, going on to predict which team will be batting first at Wankhede and which players will become the top performers in the knockout match.

‘Team India are favourite’

Astrologer Bajaj said that his prediction of India playing the semifinals in Mumbai has come true and Rohit Sharma’s side will go on to play the final in Ahmedabad. He also revealed that Team India will elect to ‘bowl first’ in their semifinal match on Wednesday.

“As per my earlier predictions I had said that Team India will play semis in Mumbai and finals in Ahmedabad. With this, I would say Team India’s stars are favourable and they will win the semis,” astrologer Sumit Bajaj said.

“India is most likely to bowl first and then chase. By 47-48th over they may reach the target set by New Zealand. NZ may set a target of 250-270,” he added.

‘Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma will play important roles’

Skipper Rohit and Virat Kohli have done the bulk of the scoring for India in the league stages of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 with both batters tallying over 500 runs. Kohli is the leading run-getter after the league stages with 594 runs in 9 matches at an average of 99.

According to astrologer Bajaj, they will be backed up by Shubman Gill, who is the world No. 1 ODI batter currently. “Virat Kohli, Subhman Gill and Rohit Sharma will prove to play important roles in this match. Captain’s horoscope is very important. In this case, Rohit Sharma will play an important role in team’s performance and help lift the cup in the finals. He is 37 years old, 36.5 years to be precise and this time and phase is very favourable for Rohit Sharma to take team India forward. Virat Kohli is in his peak right now,” Bajaj predicted.

“Another player, Surya Kumar Yadav’s performance will be good in the knock out matches and will perform good in this match too. Some other players in the Indian team to look out for are Sreyash Iyer, Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja,” he added.

‘Rachin Ravindra may not perform well’

Astrologer Sumit Bajaj believes young New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra may not perform well in the semifinal against India. Ravindra is the 3rd highest run-getter in World Cup 2023 with 565 runs in 9 matches with 3 hundreds and 2 fifties to his name.

“As far as New Zealand team is concerned, some players to watch out for are Mitchell Santner, Devon Conway. Rachin may not perform well and will lose his wicket in early phase,” Bajaj said.

“This game may not be completely effortless for Team India, NZ will bring some challenges for team India too,” he added.