Champions Trophy: India vs South Africa, Match 1, Group B - India Preview

The focus from the fixing scandal has finally shifted to a new arena. The Champions Trophy that is kicking off today, bears a lot of expectations from the cricket fans for the sheer mystery and unpredictability over a champion from the 8 teams. Unlike last time, there are no clear winners around and whether the stronger teams would actually make it to the last four remains to be seen.

India’s bold team selections have left us with only two players who can be termed as ‘experienced’ in the tournament. Without Gambhir, Sehwag, Zaheer and Yuvraj, it could be a boon or a curse for Team India, for experience can never be discounted. Still , one can take heart from the fact that the reigning world champions have a good mix of players with Kohli, Yadav and Karthik performing, and that could provide a pleasant selection headache to the skipper.

The only glitch in an otherwise strong team would be the weak top order batting. Vijay and Dhawan have failed in both the practice games and that is an area of concern for the Men in Blue. But let’s not forget the class of Dhawan, who, only a couple of months ago, knocked the daylight out of the Aussies. Therefore, one could argue that he is a value addition to the side.

But Murali Vijay on the other hand has looked completely out of sorts away from the comfortable surroundings of home. Therefore his inclusion in the team, especially for the match against South Africa, would be a gamble. Rohit Sharma is a good option to open instead, since he has a better chance of survival than Vijay.

Other than that, the bowlers’ performances have been a mixed bag with a mediocre performance followed by an outstanding one. If they manage to do to South Africa half of what they did to Australia, the task of winning the match would be much simpler.

KEY PLAYERS:

MS DHONI:

The “Captain cool” would be a relaxed man after the team’s performance in the warm-up games. He can settle down in the batting order and can bat with more freedom if the top order holds strong. More freedom to a batsman of Dhoni’s class would definitely spell danger for the opponents and MS Dhoni should look to capitalize on that if his batsmen don’t fail him.

VIRAT KOHLI:

The Delhi lad has taken a liking towards the Lankans as he demonstrated in the warm-up match against them. But let’s not forget that it was the twin fifties that helped India to win two matches in the ODI tour of South Africa in 2011. Also, he scored a century in Cardiff, the venue of today’s match when he toured England last. Therefore, adaptability would not be a problem for him. He is the man who could shepherd India’s batting if everything else fails.

UMESH YADAV:

He could be a dangerous weapon to have as he demonstrated in the match against the Australia. His express pace and easy action has troubled a lot of batsmen and the only thing he should focus on is getting the line and length right.

BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR:

“Swing” is the key in English condition and he is a perfect man for the task in the Indian squad. He can move the ball both ways without giving too much width to the batsman and that would invariably gift him wickets. Along with Yadav, he bears the responsibility of spearheading the Indian bowling.

India is not the best side in the competition, but they do have a team that could be as destructive as the Australia of old on their day. This is a fine chance for India to get a hand on the coveted trophy and if they get their basics right, it wouldn’t be too difficult for the current world champions to finally get the Champions Trophy for themselves.

All the best India!