BRIDGETOWN (BARBADOS): ‘Chokers’.It’s a tag that’s bound to hurt. With cricket fans, exuberance spills over to anger every time their team loses a knockout game. There’s a tendency to forget that a team that comes so close so often must be very good.
South Africa have lived with this tag for a very long time and Rohit Sharma‘s India would surely hate such a tag with all their heart.
Since the 2013 Champions Trophy, success in ICC events has kept eluding India even as they have come agonizingly close time and time again.
Many Indian fans had decided that they wouldn’t watch cricket anymore after Nov 19, 2023, but such is the lure of the sport that it’s impossible to stay away from it for long. The Indian team gives you enough reasons to come back to it, dream again, and hope that better days are around the corner.
Kensington Oval on Saturday definitely promises to be one such day. Rohit and Co. came into this World Cup with a steely determination and a concrete plan. They didn’t overdo it through the United States leg and the Super-8s, but simply kept at it.
Virat Kohli hasn’t scored runs. Shivam Dube hasn’t quite set the stage on fire. Even the ever-reliable Ravindra Jadeja isn’t at his usual best. But the team management is absolutely fixated about a template when it comes to West Indies conditions and it has worked like magic so far.
“In the game against Bangladesh, most of us got 20s and 30s. Only one guy (Hardik Pandya) got a half-century. Yet we reached 196. That’s the perfect performance for me,” Rohit had said, and that’s exactly what he wants his team to do against South Africa as well.
He knows the pitches in West Indies have enough in them in a day game where his spinners Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Jadeja can keep any batting lineup to below 160. And then of course, there is Jasprit Bumrah. Never in the nine years that he has been playing international cricket has Bumrah looked so unplayable.
With 15 off four Bumrah overs becoming par – add to that a couple of wickets – India are virtually turning every match into 18-over contest. Opposition batters are almost obligated to attack the other bowlers to make up for it, and the left-arm spin trio is just too good for that.
Despite taking everything into consideration, there is a slight twist to this South Africa tale in the final. Forget the eight wins they have notched up so far. Just like India, South Africa, too, are a bat-first team. Even though they blew apart Afghanistan bowling first in the semis, the strength of the Proteas lies in going berserk at the top, courtesy IPL superstars like Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and a few others.
Almost all the teams have been wary of taking first strike against India but this South African bunch will surely bat if they win the toss. The last time that happened was in the game against United States at the Nassau County ground and a chase of 110 didn’t look straight-forward for a while.
It’s almost a given though that India, too, will like to bat first and take South Africa out of the contest. The Proteas pace-attack has a bit of venom to it and it is important that Kohli gets a few runs in this game. “We understand his class. Form is never a problem when you’ve played for 15 years. Probably he is saving for the final,” said Rohit, showing confidence in a long-time colleague.
Reserve day for final
Friday was bright and sunny in Bridgetown but there is a likelihood of thunderstorms on Saturday. In case of a washout, the final will be played on the ‘reserve day’ Sunday.
