The injury to Hardik Pandya notwithstanding, the start to India’s World Cup campaign couldn’t have gone any better. Apart from the four straight wins, the manner of those victories is what makes the hosts the team to beat. The batting has clicked to such an extent, apart from the 2/3 situation India found themselves in against Australia in their opener, that no one below No.6 has had a bat till now. India has lost just 12 wickets in four games despite the openers going on an all-out attack from the first ball.
As far as the bowling is concerned, it seems as if Jasprit Bumrah had never been away. There were fears in certain quarters during his long time away from the game whether he would ever return, or at least be the bowler he was in his pomp. If anything, India’s pace spearhead seems to be an even better version of himself in this World Cup. He seems impossible to hit, irrespective of the stage of the innings, without compromising on wicket-taking ability. Kuldeep Yadav continues to bamboozle batsmen, while Ravindra Jadeja remains the banker with the ball. Mohammed Siraj may go for a few runs but can always be relied upon to have something in the wickets column.
As India prepares to face the only other unbeaten team in the competition, New Zealand, in Dharamsala, they will be full of confidence. The Kiwis are without their regular skipper Kane Williamson, but it only seems to have brought an already tightly-knit unit even closer. The format of the World Cup suggests that after four wins in as many games, with matches against Sri Lanka and the Netherlands yet to come, a semi-final spot may be already all but assured. Playing a different opposition at a different venue every few days is a difficult proposition, but if there’s one team that can go throughout the league phase undefeated, it’s the hosts.
However, recalling the last two World Cups, it isn’t the league or pool phase that’s been India’s problem. In 2015, they went through the group stage undefeated, while they lost just once in nine matches during the round robin phase in 2019. On both occasions, they were ousted in the semi-finals, the first knock-out game they faced.
Hence, as India aims to end a decade-long wait for major cricket silverware, it basically will come down to two matches. And the big guns will have to deliver when the stakes are highest. It is in those circumstances that the team has come up short in ICC events over the last decade. India has the best win percentage in World Cups over the last three or so editions, but it’s the matches with the highest pressure, where there are no second chances, which have been insurmountable for the team that has, more often than not, gone into tournaments as one of the red-hot favourites. What happens when the top order doesn’t quite fire, or when one or more of the main bowlers go for plenty of runs, remains to be seen.
Without a doubt, one needs to get the rub of the green at crucial stages. But also, a team needs a certain ruthlessness and ice in their veins when the big moments arrive.
Usual suspects
Australia have started to hit their straps with back-to-back wins after two losses to start their campaign. If they get into their stride, they will be genuine contenders.
Overall, as things stand, there are six genuine contenders for the four semi-final spots. The others have enjoyed the odd victory, especially the upsets that Afghanistan and the Netherlands have registered, but they are much too inconsistent and green to take the next big step up, yet. The Bangladesh fans want everyone to take them seriously and are eager to be perceived as India’s major subcontinent rivals, but their immaturity and lack of composure, more often than not, gets the better of them. They are still too reliant on their ageing war-horses Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, and it’s rare for their upcoming stars like Litton Das to make match-winning contributions.
But it’s the plight of the Lankans that is one of the biggest disappointments of the World Cup so far. Their toothless bowling attack, missing Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmanta Chameera, allowed South Africa to make a record 428 in their first match and couldn’t defend 344 against Pakistan in the next. Spinner Maheesh Theekshana isn’t as effective on less-responsive pitches as he would like, while Matheesha Pathirana, with a Lasith Malinga-like bowling action, is quickly learning that bowling to the best batsmen in the world in the 50-over game is a different proposition altogether than T20 cricket.
Conventional wisdom has it that a team would need six wins out of their nine games to make sure of a semi-final spot, and after the lacklustre start to the campaign, the bottom four sides can only hope to spoil someone else’s prospects.
As far as the hosts are concerned, their impressive start has put a target on their backs. Beating India would make any team the one to watch out for and make them rise in everyone’s eyes. That, allied with the fact that they are playing at home, puts an altogether different type of pressure on Rohit Sharma & Co.
But as Billie Jean King once said: “Pressure is a privilege – it only comes to those who earn it.”