Men In Blue have a chance to tame SA
New Delhi: The Indian cricket caravan has rolled into Barbados, West Indies, for a tilt at the title in the ICC T20 World Cup final against South Africa. After crushing England, the defending champions in the semi-finals at Guyana, early morning, Friday, India time, there is expectation in the air. Will skipper Rohit Sharma be able to script a fairy-tale win against the Proteas in Saturday’s final is on everyone’s mind.
Indeed, this edition of the World Cup has progressed at break-neck speed. The amount of travel and kind of challenges faced on different surfaces has been an acid test. That the Indian team came out firing against England in the semi-final was proof of intent, content and a killer instinct. Such aggression and passion have not been seen so often, though the mind will wander to the ICC World Cup last year, when Indian lost the ODI final to Australia in Ahmedabad.
No narration is complete without a mention of how Rohit has led the team under Rahul Dravid the coach, who is on his last assignment as Team India coach. Dravid, referred to as The Wall, has earned his place in the history books for being a super coach. It is under his mentorship and being the father figure, India played the ICC Test Championship final last year in England, where Australia won. Again, the World Cup loss was also a clear verdict, Dravid had done his job well for India. The coach often gets slammed and is subject to ridicule. No, that’s wrong, for Dravid has brought out the best from this team, first in New York and then in the West Indies.
India versus South Africa, it may be tempting to predict the outcome, since the former have been unbeaten. Maybe, that would be immature, for South Africa were ruthless when they beat Afghanistan black and blue in the first semi-final, where the nine-wicket demolition job was so ruthless.
The Proteas pack more than a punch when it comes to fast bowling. They have arsenal which is explosive, as was evident when they destroyed Afghanistan.
Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Tabrais Shamzi are very potent bowlers, pace and spin, a heady mix. These bowlers can pose problems for India, where Rohit Sharma at the top of the order has batted with authority bordering on arrogance.
Anything which Rohit does, with the bat or while speaking to the media, he has shown positive intent and been so calm. People have asked him questions in many ways, but his response has been so professional. The best, perhaps, has been on how and why Virat Kohli flops match after match! Yes, to watch Kohli not score runs as an opener is very disappointing in this World Cup. But then, the skipper does not care two hoots.
He has backed Kohli repeatedly and said maybe the former India captain will come good in the final. Such words from the skipper are more than motivational.
If one looks at the template which has been prepared by Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid, it has been a superb one.
Look at the batting order, Rishabh Pant at No.3 brings the zest and zing with his unconventional hitting. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya are batters who matter, and they have shown intent. Lower down, the bits and pieces batters also stand up to be counted.
As regards the bowling, Jasprit Bumrah’s pace and bounce, Arshdeep Singh showing swing is king and Pandya ready to fire bouncers has been heady stuff.
The twist in the tale is spin, where Axar Patel, who bamboozled England, which evoked comparisons with movie Lagaan, left arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are the troika. Indeed, the variety in bowling is so rich, all kinds of batters from teams in this World Cup have been choked to death.
It is this amalgam of strong batting, wherein not one superstar alone delivers and bowlers responding with a killer instinct which has made the Men in Blue look so handsome. A billion prayers for Team India have begun as the team takes on South Africa at 8pm IST on Saturday.
This may be the last time cricket fans will see Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli together in the T20 internationals. Add to it the Dravid farewell factor, emotions are running high, No, the players and staff are not exhibiting emotions of this kind as their job is to deliver.
