The beating of drums for quite some time on Saturday afternoon at the MA Chidambaram Stadium did give an impression that the World Cup has finally begun. Particularly, after rows of empty seats at the tournament opener in Ahmedabad last Thursday took the competition off to a dull start.
That drum-beating though was mainly to celebrate a tie-up between the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) and the Chennai corporation. But having said that, one can at least have a World Cup-like feel given the overall atmosphere on the stadium premises.
The 38,000-capacity stadium, according to the TNCA officials, is expected to be a full house when Team India begin their Cup campaign against Australia in Sunday’s big-ticket clash. India and Australia though will obviously be focused on the job at hand, which is getting off to a winning start in this showpiece event.
For India captain Rohit Sharma, the “unfinished business” of not having won the 50-over World Cup crown yet is another aspect spurring him on. Rohit is equally careful about not getting too carried away with it.
“Look, you heard the great man (Sachin Tendulkar) say that so many times that until he wins the World Cup, he’s got a bit of unfinished business. So, it’s the same for us as well,” Rohit said on the eve of India’s opener.
“Winning the World Cup is the biggest prize you can have in your career. But again, there’s a way to do it. In desperation, you can do so many things that can lead to so many other things as well.
“So, it’s good to be hungry. But you’ve got to find that balance to stay desperate and hungry to score runs, win games and lift the trophy. You cannot get way too ahead of yourself because that can lead to something that you don’t really wish for,” the India skipper explained.
Turn likely
Sources in the TNCA said three pitches had been prepared for Sunday’s game. But the head curator of the International Cricket Council, Andy Atkinson, and BCCI chief curator Ashish Bhowmick chose the surface which has a bit of grass but will offer turn as well for the spinners.
On Saturday evening, groundsmen were seen sprinkling some water as well on the pitch.
Going by what Rohit said at the pre-match news conference, it will be surprising if India don’t include senior off-spinner and crowd favourite Ravichandran Ashwin in the XI alongside Ravindra Jadeja and chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, who bowled a fair bit to the India captain during Saturday’s optional training session.
“Three spinners is definitely an option. I don’t really consider Hardik Pandya as just a seamer. He’s a proper fast bowler, who can crank up good speed.
“So, that gives us the luxury of playing three spinners and three seamers on this pitch. We get that balance which lengthens our batting till No.8 in the order,” Rohit explained.
Gill condition
The indisposed Shubman Gill is “not ruled out of the game yet”, but Rohit agreed that the former is not well. “Me being a human being first, I want him to get well, Not the captain thinking, ‘Oh, I want Gill to play tomorrow (Sunday),” Rohit stated.
As for the Australians, all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is “still touch-and-go” in terms of his availability on Sunday, skipper Pat Cummins said.
