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The Indian team will be taking on Sri Lanka in match 33 of the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. The Men in Blue have not tasted defeat in this mega event so far, while the Lankans are coming on the back of a thrashing by Afghanistan. In the very first game, if you think about it, India were three down for two against Australia. And then the innings from KL Rahul and Virat Kohli happened and the Indian team has not looked back since in terms of batting, as the likes of Rahul, Virat, and Rohit Sharma have been playing those impactful innings. Skipper Rohit has already collected a century and helped the team continue the momentum. Someone like Surya Kumar Yadav has got those 49 runs in the last game, batting with the bowlers at the end. He must have got a lot of confidence from that innings in terms of what is expected of him. He did deliver coming in playing the last few overs and finishing off the games.
Throwback
India versus Sri Lanka at Wankhede brings back some glorious memories from 2011. I think every time we think about this encounter at this venue, we’ve got to be thinking about 2011, that night when India won the World Cup. So this is going to be another of those special days, and also the Men in Blue are just on on their merry ways. They’ve been the team to beat. And the good part is, it’s not that it hasn’t been easy going, even though when you look at that points table, six out of six. But when you actually look at those games, India has been challenged. It hasn’t been an easy journey so far.
Everyone’s talking about how good the batters have been. But so far, I think the standout performance has been from the bowlers. Yes, India did bowl beautifully defending 229 and winning by 100 runs. But apart from that, even while chasing Indian batters really haven’t had to chase an above-par score so far. So got to give if you think about it, got to give a lot of credit to the Indian bowlers. What Rohit is doing with the bat, giving that tempo, giving that momentum to the batting innings, Jasprit Bumrah is doing exactly the same with the bowling half, giving that initial impact with his initial overs with the new ball. And then the other bowlers have followed it up, especially Mohammed Shami, in the last couple of games.
Sensational Shami
It is absolutely phenomenal how Mohammed Shami has kept himself ready for any kind of opportunity. And when it did come to him, five in the first, four in the second, and he’s just looking brilliant. And you can actually call him Mr World Cup if you look at his World Cup numbers.
Shami has been absolutely brilliant throughout all the World Cup games that he’s played and is again looking very very good. In the middle overs, we’ve got Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja, if you look at him, predominantly he is a constraining bowler, a bowler who would hold up one end, not leak runs. But he’s not just done that, he’s been successful in picking up wickets as well. And that’s what makes this Indian bowling lineup very very lethal and the most lethal so far in this World Cup.
Shreyas’s Torrid Run
Well, as far as Hardik Pandya is concerned, obviously the news is he has injured his Achilles, and that would mean he won’t be available for the next two games. That would be against Sri Lanka, also the next one against South Africa. So in his absence, I don’t think the Indian team will make too many changes and will continue with the same playing XI, which has been working.
But there might be just one little concern in terms of Shreyas Iyer. It’s not the concern that he hasn’t scored big runs or that he’s been getting out to that short ball. But my concern is every time I see him practise as well, it seems like that short ball thing is affecting how he’s planning a game, how he’s practising, and how he’s thinking. And for me, that is more of a concern. Because as a batter, when you tend to get out to a certain delivery and the world is talking about it, there is a danger of getting into that rabbit hole where you get yourself into that thought, into that negative thought and you get sucked in deeper and deeper into it. And that is what concerns me. And I hope that he doesn’t get too stuck up with that short ball because he’s such a good batter, he’s got so many runs in ODIs, and in other ways. He should be focusing on his strengths. And that’s the only thing that I have a little concern with as far as Shreyas is concerned. Getting out to short ball is not a worrying factor, but how it’s affecting him and his mindset is.
As far as Wankhede’s pitch is concerned, it hs always been a very high-scoring affair. It could be a little bit of dew with the change in the day temperature and the night temperature and obviously the humidity levels that are there in Mumbai. So the pitch, again, seems to be the usual Mumbai pitch. it will be high-scoring with a lot of bounce and pace, which generally does help the batters a lot more than the bowlers. But especially under the lights, that should help the bowlers a bit. But you would want to chase at this venue because of the dew factor, which at times can be a big, big issue.
As far as my playing XI is concerned, I’m not going to change. I know there might be a little bit of a talk with Shreyas Iyer and his form, but I’ll still be inclined to go with the same playing eleven and not change too many things, but try and give as much confidence as possible to someone like Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill as well. Even though he hasn’t scored too many runs he’s been batting well. Shubman’s been batting well as he’s got about 104 runs so far. But with those 104 runs, he’s looked good. He’s timed well. His footwork is good. It’s just that one big score that we have now started to expect and demand from Shubman Gill, it seems to be around the corner.
Deep Dasgupta India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
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