Champions Trophy: Virat Kohli & fans look ahead to England

BIRMINGHAM: Indian captain Virat Kohli, who shot to the top of the ODI batting charts on Tuesday, surprised everyone by saying "everyone wants to see an India-England final here" during a special reception hosted by the Indian high commission at Lord's. "It would not have mattered who we were playing in the semis, we have an opportunity to win one game and enter the finals.Everyone wants to see an India-England final. If both teams play, people might get what they want to see."
It's not known if England fans are chuffed about the team's prospects, but Indian fans here certainly are. According to organizers, 31% of the tickets for the final at the 25,500-capacity Oval have been bought by Indians. They have even bought 37% of the seats at Cardiff, where Pakistan will play England on Wednesday!
If it's Bangladesh, it must be Dharmasena!
One of the questions put to Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha drew alarmed reactions from the large Bangladesh media contingent here ahead of the semifinal. "Coach, Kumar Dharmasena has been announced as one of the umpires!" Everyone drew a sharp breath, including Hathurusingha. Dharmasena was, after all, at the heart of the decision review system (DRS) chaos in Chitta gong in October 2016 in a Test England won by 22 runs. The Test saw a record 26 umpiring decisions being reviewed by the players, 16 of those belonging to Dharmasena. Eight of these were overturned, an unwanted world record which led to the now-legendary monicker of 'Dharmasena Review System'! Incidentally, Bangladesh had reviewed 13 times, and were successful only four times. Three consecutive LBW appeals against Moeen Ali on the second day were changed on appeal, with who else but Dharmasena being at the receiving end. The ICC promptly reacted by making Dharmasena officiate in the second Test of the series too! Since DRS woes continued to dog Dharmasena all the way to the India-England Test in Mohali in November 2016, India too may need to be wary of him. Richard Kettleborough is the other on-field umpire for the Champions Trophy semifinal.