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It’s been a long six days for the Indian team here, following the six-wicket defeat of Pakistan last Sunday. New Zealand’s convincing victory over Bangladesh the following day catapulted the Indians too to the last four of the Champions Trophy, taking some of the context away from Sunday’s final league clash between two already qualified sides at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Context or not, there is always plenty to look forward to when these two teams lock horns, especially with India looking to redress the 5-9 deficit they have conceded to the Kiwis in ICC limited-overs tournaments of all ilk.
Big hits galore in training
With two matches scheduled in three days — they will play in Tuesday’s first semi-final here, against either South Africa or Australia — India have used the time after the understandably draining clash against Pakistan judiciously. There have been two evening training sessions at the ICC Academy grounds, on Wednesday and Friday, both extended stints where range hitting was a concerted endeavour as white cricket balls challenged the night sky and flew long and far.
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India will need to bring their ‘A’ game against their perennial bugbears, who boast greater balance than Bangladesh and Pakistan, India’s two vanquished rivals in this competition. Under left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, the Kiwis have grown into a gathering force, building on the momentum derived from their title triumph in a tri-series in Pakistan a fortnight back. There is experience and depth in the batting, set to be fortified by the return from illness of Indophile Daryl Mitchell, and a plethora of spin resources to complement the captain — Michael Bracewell, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra — to go with the usual pace proficiency headlined by Matt Henry and William O’Rourke.
Forced to redesign their approach to batting in deference to the slowness of the surfaces at the DICS, India have showcased adaptability and versatility with Shubman Gill leading the way and the rest following suit. Only Rohit Sharma has stuck to his natural grain, understandable because he has access to the two new balls in the Powerplay, when only two fielders man the country. The rest have dialled down on aggression, working out individual methods to score runs in the conditions presented to them.
Virat Kohli’s 51st ODI century, against Pakistan last weekend, is significant from that perspective. At No. 3, the former skipper is the bridge between the top and the middle-orders; his hundred contained only seven fours, though his strike-rate was an impressive 90.09. Having chased in both games thus far, Kohli and India will hope they win the toss after 12 successive losses so that they can test themselves in defending a total ahead of the knockout stage of the competition.
Kohli set for 300th ODI
Sunday will mark Kohli’s 300th ODI, a tribute to his fitness and longevity. He will want to celebrate becoming the seventh Indian to get to that milestone with a meaningful essay while leaving a few in the bank for Tuesday night, when the stakes will be so much higher. Because the turnaround time is so miniscule, India will contemplate changes — and maybe rest Mohammed Shami? — while being mindful of not shaking things up too much. Sunday should be fun.
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