Today’s Fixture
South Africa Vs India (Southampton) 3 pm
Bangladesh Vs New Zealand (London) 6 pm
Southampton, June 4: Virat Kohli will embark on the most defining journey of his international career, carrying the hopes of more than a billion when he leads India against an injury-hit South Africa in their World Cup opener here tomorrow.
Kohli is one of the best batsmen of this era but this edition of the World Cup will define his legacy as a leader, an aspect on which the jury is still out despite some heady achievements in the Test arena.
The current team does have potent match-winners with the skipper himself being the biggest of them all but it still misses the aura, the ‘class of 2011’ under Mahendra Singh Dhoni had.
Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh were in a different league with the support cast comprising Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina and a young Kohli.
But this team, led by Kohli and mentored by Dhoni, has had its share of good results and six wins in nine games would ensure a smooth passage into the semi-finals.
Two years of investment has gone into building a potent ODI squad, something that started right after the 2017 Champions Trophy final loss against Pakistan.
The ‘Men In Blue’ have had adequate rest. All other teams have already played two games each and they can’t wait to kick-start their campaign with a commanding performance.
The first match in a tournament of such vast magnitude is always important and South Africa’s confidence will be at its lowest following back-to-back defeats against England and Bangladesh.
To make matters worse, senior speedster Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury and has been replaced by left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks.
Fast bowler Lungi Ngidi is also out for at least tomorrow’s game with a hamstring strain. Hashim Amla got a nasty hit on the helmet off Jofra Archer’s short ball against England in the opening game.
The clash couldn’t possibly have been more well-timed as India have a chance to hold the Proteas by the scruff of their neck when they are seemingly at their weakest.
However, a cornered opponent is always a dangerous proposition and head coach Ravi Shastri, a shrewd tactician by all means, will be surely making the players aware of the consequences of taking their foot off the pedal.
The pitch at the Ageas Bowl stadium in Southampton, devoid of grass cover, is expected to be a batting-friendly but Kohli will have a few points to ponder upon as the weather forecast on match day indicates cloud cover with intermittent shower.
Teams (from):
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, K L Rahul, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, David Miller, Beuran Hendricks, Kagiso Rabada, Dwaine Pertorius, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamshi, Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi, Chris Morris, Rassie van der Dussen.
Match Starts: 3 pm IST. (PTI)
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