INDIA COME TO THE PARTY
But South Africa drinking in last-chance saloon
VirAt Kohli’s india, the giants of the global game, make their belated arrival at the World Cup today — and face a south Africa side who are one defeat away from all but being knocked out.
imagine Brazil playing their first match at the football World Cup against a holland side who have already played twice, and the unsatisfactory lop- sidedness of the schedule becomes even clearer.
india v south Africa at southampton’s Ageas Bowl is the tournament’s eighth fixture, and by now five of the 10 teams have each appeared twice. the upshot is that one side will be attempting to find their feet, and the other looking anxiously over their shoulder.
one more loss for south Africa, following those against England and Bangladesh, will probably leave them needing to win their last six group games to reach the semi-finals. lose today, and the rest of their tournament may as well be played out to the sound of a funeral march.
Whether they can catch Kohli’s side cold is another matter. if so, they will have indian politics to thank. A recent ruling by their supreme Court, acting on the findings of a committee asked in 2015 to look into the governance of indian cricket, stated that the nation’s cricketers needed 15 days’ rest between assignments.
When the World Cup fixture list was finalised in April 2018, the 2019 iPl final was scheduled for May 19, which would have meant india could not play their first game here until June 3.
But the climax of the recent indian elections meant the iPl final had to be brought forward by seven days to avoid a clash, handing Kohli and team-mates a rare three-and-a-half-week break.
some will wonder whether this is yet another example of india dictating terms to the rest of the cricketing world. But the iCC — who worked furiously behind the scenes to avoid the schedule we have now — argue they could not have allowed one of their member nations to breach the laws of their own country.
it is a reasonable position. And despite the outcry, it has left india with four tough games in their first 12 days: south Africa, Australia, new Zealand and their old rivals
Pakistan, who are suddenly being taken seriously again after their stirring win over England.
Kohli, though, is more attuned to pressure than any cricketer in the world, and he argued that starting later was ‘ a bit of an advantage in terms of understanding how the games have gone’.
Comments from a recent interview given by south Africa fast bowler Kagiso rabada also ensured india’s captain is in the spotlight.
rabada told EsPncricinfo that Kohli was ‘ very immature’, and better at dishing out abuse than receiving Casualty: Dale Steyn’s World Cup is over GETTY IMAGES it — an opinion shared by many of the England team. But Kohli took it in his stride. ‘ Well, i’ve played against Kagiso many times,’ he said. ‘ And if anything needs to be discussed, we can discuss it man to man. rabada is always going to be a world-class bowler and a threat to any side. he can go through any team.’ Expect some sharp glares on the south coast today, and even a few words. Faf du Plessis, Kohli’s south Africa counterpart, might have groaned when he heard of rabada’s assessment, but he has other things to worry about. Veteran fast bowler Dale steyn’s World Cup is over without a ball sent down in anger after being diagnosed with ‘ shoulder impingement syndrome’, while fellow quick lungi ngidi is missing after suffering a hamstring strain during the 21-run defeat by Bangladesh at the oval on sunday.
With steyn’s replacement Beuran hendricks due to arrive today, it means south Africa enter this game with a squad of 14 and only four fit seamers — not the ideal recipe for a do-or-die game against the world’s second-ranked side.
the better news is that hashim Amla returns after sitting out the Bangladesh match because of a delayed reaction to the blow on the head he received from England’s Jofra Archer last thursday.
But south Africa will need a collective resurgence if they are to avoid the old accusation that World Cups are simply not their cup of rooibos tea.
having begun the tournament in relaxed mood, Du Plessis is now sounding rather more serious.
‘For myself, it’s really important to stay strong,’ he said. ‘the team will feed off my energy. there is still hope for us. We’ve got a lot of cricket left. i have to front up.
‘i’m captain of the team right now and the players are looking for someone to lead them. All i can do is try my absolute best. that doesn’t mean results. i wish it did. six wins is the target, and there are seven games left. it would be great if we could start that here.’
S. Africa v India LIVE on Sky Sports from 10am and BBC 5Live Sports Extra from 9.30am (10.30am start).