Three of the four semifinalists have claimed their places, and the last one could be decided today, if New Zealand beat India. Recent history would suggest that it is a distinct possibility, but the present form of the Indians would be worrying Stephen Fleming and his men.
Their disastrous tour to New Zealand would be fresh in the minds of the Indian players, and they would be aware that denying the Kiwis a place in the semifinals would be a fine way of avenging those defeats. Moreover, the players who were on top in that series, Jacob Oram, Andre Adams and Daryl Tuffey are now struggling on pitches that are more suited to cricket than the graveyards that were dished out to the Indians a couple of months ago. The Indians on the other hand have shaken off the trauma of that tour, and are now enjoying batting on good one-day wickets. Under these circumstances, I would say that India start as favorites.
Hunger and desperation sometimes make a team lift their performance. The Indians are already assured a semifinal spot against Kenya, and the result of today’s game will not affect them, either way. The New Zealanders have everything to gain, and will be playing with a lot more at stake. Very often, the hungrier team wins, and that is the only reason why I would refrain from completely writing off the Black Caps.
This is the third game India is playing at the Centurion, and this could prove crucial. They are now familiar with the conditions, and the wicket is to their liking. New Zealand on the other hand might struggle with their bowlers because, once India get past Shane Bond, the rest of the bowlers will be pretty innocuous on a wicket that offers little sideways movement. Bond will hold no worries for an Indian lineup that battered the other pace demon Shoaib on the same wicket. The wicket at Centurion remains batsman-friendly right through the day, so I don’t think the toss will prove crucial unless the weather takes a turn for the worse.
I don’t think India would want to change or experiment with their playing eleven at the moment, they are much too focused on keeping the winning trend right now. In fact, they must guard against the feeling that they just need to land up in the next two games, because they are assured a place in the finals. I’m sure they are elated at having to play Kenya at Durban, but one just has to look at the Italy-South Korea game in the Soccer World Cup to realize how things can go wrong in any sport.
Arab News Sports 14 March 2003
