WATCH: Virat Kohli Meets Football Legend David Beckham Ahead of Semi-final Clash vs New Zealand

After 42 days of non-stop cricketing action, the ICC World Cup 2023 knockouts get underway with the first semi-final between India and New Zealand on Thursday. The stage for the epic battle is set at the iconic Wankhede Stadium and the environment got more electrifying when ace Indian batter Virat Kohli met the English soccer legend David Beckham, who was accompanied with batting great Sachin Tendulkar.

IND vs NZ ICC World Cup 2023 Semi-final Live Updates

Beckham and Tendulkar walked in with the coveted World Cup trophy before the teams assembled on the field for their national anthems. The trio of Kohli, Beckham and Tendulkar were snapped having a conversation near the boundary line.

Meanwhile, the IC shared pictures of Beckham catching up with the likes of Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah.

“The crossover of the century,” the caption of ICC’s Instagram post read.

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. 

India opt to bat first in the semis

Earlier, India won the toss and opted to bat first. Speaking at the toss, captain Rohit Sharma recalled India’s loss in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, highlighting the consistency of the Black Caps.

“We are gonna bat first. Looks like a good pitch. Looks like on the slower side. Whatever we do, we need to do well. I think it was back in 2019 when we played the semis. NZ is one of the most consistent sides. Very important day. Constantly, talking about how important it is about turning up on that day. It is about controlling the controllables. Same team,” Rohit said at the toss.

Kane Williamson, on the other hand, mentioned that the Kiwis would also have batted first but will look to do well with the ball.

“We would have batted first. Looks like a used pitch. We would want to do well with the ball and then hopefully, some dew later. Amazing occasion. Four years ago, similar situation but a different location. They have been playing some good cricket. Always a building phase between the tournaments. Need to assess what is in front of you when the tournament starts. We are going with the same team from the previous match,” Williamson said.

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Mark Chapman, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult