The situation perhaps could not have been more ideal for India as they get ready for their first match of World Cup 2019.
Their opponents South Africa, despite the gravity of their name, are bruised badly to say the least. They have lost both their matches so far and are without two of their frontline fast bowlers. To say they will be under pressure will be an understatement.
Contrast that to India. The World Cup may have begun almost a week back, but it was somewhat incomplete without Virat Kohli and his men taking the field. Unlike the Proteas, India do not have to deal with the burden of lost matches, instead they will be as fresh as the morning dew for Wednesday’s match in Southampton.
They do have a few injury niggles to deal with, but none of those seem to be a major headache. There has been no negative news about the minor injuries picked up by captain Virat and all-rounder Vijay Shankar in the lead-up, and Kedar Jadhav too seems to have regained much of his fitness after being out of action since the final phase of the IPL.
On paper then, India are overwhelming favourites to begin their campaign on a rousing note.
But that’s the story at the surface. Dive deeper and you will see what enormous pressure lies underneath, ready to pull down the No.2-ranked ODI team. To be precise, the pressure of a billion expectations.
That bit is unavoidable for any India team or its captain.
Virat is not new to it though. He has been dealing with the glare of the spotlight for a long time now. He knows how blinding it can get at times and he knows how to get out of it as well.
But it is certain that the job wouldn’t be easy no matter how equipped Virat will be.
First and foremost, he will have the successes of the past teams to haunt him. Under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India had done extremely well in the last two editions of the World Cup. They were the champions in 2011 and went as far as the semi-finals in 2015. Can Virat’s team continue in the same rhythm?
He will of course have none other than Dhoni to guide him past the hurdles. And that help is invaluable to say the least.
Dhoni, 37, has been there and done it. The wicketkeeper-batsman remains one of the most respected names of the game and will play a crucial role for India once again.
But Virat will be hungry to chart his own path, make his own name, create his own legacy. Virat, the batsman, has already climbed many a peak and looks set to conquer many more. But Virat, the captain, has much more to prove.
Yes, he owns some enviable statistics as a captain too, the Test series triumph in Australia earlier this year being just one of them. But then, nothing like a World Cup. No win can match the euphoria of a World Cup win. And Virat being always hungry for success, will give his everything to do a Dhoni.
Virat of course has the team to help him in his quest. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Dhoni, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah are all match-winners. Virat himself is a class apart.
There will be some dilemma about the composition of the XI. From his pre-match media conference, one guessed that it will be a toss-up between Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja. Both can be classified as all-rounders — Kedar’s batting is stronger, Jadeja’s bowling is better.
The pitch at the Ageas Bowl stadium in Southampton, devoid of grass cover, is expected to be a batting-friendly track. But the pitch is not all when you are in England. With the weather forecast for Wednesday indicating cloud cover with intermittent shower, many other factors will also have to be kept in mind while choosing the final XI.
The South Africans on the other hand are desperately seeking answers. Captain Faf du Plessis is in deep trouble after losing the first two matches and two pacers as well.
Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the entire World Cup, Lungi Ngidi is out of the India match, at least.
In a nutshell, India are favourites. But then, who cares for tags in a World Cup?
