In search of 7th heaven

Rohit Mahajan

Mumbai, November 1

Six wins in a row, unbeaten in the tournament so far, having clobbered teams such as Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand and England — Rohit Sharma’s men are living up to the pre-tournament hype. A win against Sri Lanka tomorrow would guarantee them a place in the semifinals.

The banana peel — that’s what India must beware against, and that’s what Sri Lanka, struggling so far, could be. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar is fearful about jinxing the Indians by uttering words that are too hopeful. “They’ve put up a great brand of cricket, and I’m extremely happy,” Tendulkar said. “Is se zyada bolkar nazar nahin lagaunga — I don’t want to jinx them by talking too much! They know what to do.”

Tendulkar was in the team when India last played Sri Lanka at the Wankhede — the 2011 World Cup final on April 2, Tendulkar’s “happiest day in my life”. That Sri Lankan team was quite competitive, and was denied the title only due to the heroics of Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni.

34Virat Kohli needs 34 runs to go past Sachin Tendulkar — currently, both are tied for 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year on most occasions (7)

7Mathews has dismissed Rohit Sharma seven times in ODIs — more than any other bowler — including twice on zero

53.57Angelo Mathews has an excellent record against India with an average of 53.57 and a strike rate of 84.93

It’s a high-scoring ground, but at the same time, if the bowlers put the ball in the right area, it can be slightly difficult. —Rohit Sharma, India captain

The Sri Lankan team that confronts India now is on shaky ground, having lost to Afghanistan in the previous match. They’ve logged just two wins and another loss would push them to the edge.

The Indians indeed know what to do. They would be very confident, for things have gone just brilliantly for them. The formula has been to bat second and chase down the opposition’s total; the one time they batted first, they got only 229 on the board, but their pacemen put up a remarkable performance, in helpful conditions, against England in Lucknow.

Rohit has been leading the assault on the opposition bowlers, with 398 runs in six innings; Virat Kohli has 354 from his six innings; KL Rahul has 216 from five innings; but after them, there’s a bit of a gulf — the next best is Shreyas Iyer, 134 from six at an unimpressive 33.50, and Shubman Gill averages 26, with 104 runs. The worst-case scenario would involve a failure of both Rohit and Kohli, and the others scoring their average scores.

But a batting nightmare is unlikely at the Wankhede, for the pitch here gifts runs in abundance. In the two World Cup games here so far, South Africa batted first twice and put up 399 and 382. These numbers would cheer Rohit and Kohli and, even more, Gill and Iyer.

Rohit said that in the absence of the injured Hardik Pandya, he’s keeping his options open. “In this tournament, the spinners actually are the ones who are stopping the run flow in the middle overs,” he said. “All sorts of combinations are possible.”

As for himself, he’d continue to play “according to the situation”, as he did in the low-scoring game against England.

Rohit is going through a career high — captain, big scorer — but he’s seen the lows, too. He’s a wise man of 36 and is not going to be beguiled by praise or good fortune. “When things look good, everything looks good. I know how this thing works — one game here and there, and suddenly I’ll be a bad captain,” he said. “I know how it works.”

‘Asia Cup mauling will add motivation’

Memories of Sri Lanka’s humbling defeat to India in the Asia Cup final in September will add extra motivation to the team when they face the hosts, coach Chris Silverwood said.

India bundled out Sri Lanka for just 50 for a 10-wicket win in the final of the Asia Cup in Colombo. “I’d rather hope that the defeat in the Asia Cup would give more motivation to the boys to come out and obviously fight tomorrow, show plenty of spirit and get stuck in to the Indian side,” Englishman Silverwood said. “They’re a very good side, we know that, we’ve seen them play some superb cricket this tournament so far. I think any team in the world would want an attack like that, to be honest. But I think it’s a good opportunity for our boys to show what they’re made of as well,” he said. reuters