It's a day of reckoning for India. In front of passionate fans at Oval, they will have to raise their game several notches if they hope to tame South Africa and qualify for the Champions Trophy semis
India skipper Virat Kohli celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis with teammates at The Oval on Thursday. Pic/AP,PTI
It's a day of reckoning for India. In front of passionate fans at the jam-packed Oval, they will have to raise their game several notches if they hope to tame South Africa and qualify for the Champions Trophy semis today.
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After defeating Pakistan, Virat Kohli & Co. fluffed their lines big time against Sri Lanka despite putting a 300-plus score on the board. There is no doubt that the Indian think-tank will be looking to realign their personnel especially in the bowling department.
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin likely to play
The benching of R Ashwin had raised few eyebrows from the start. But when India beat arch-rivals Pakistan without the wily offie, they did not think twice before going into the Sri Lankan game without him.
Now the situation is different. In a must-win scenario, they are left with very little choice but to have a close look at the off-spinner, especially as South African batsmen tend to be circumspect against spin. Going by what skipper Kohli said during the pre-match press conference there is very little doubt that India are
looking to tweak the bowling attack a bit.
"After the Sri Lanka game a lot of things have been discussed, what went wrong and what combinations we can go into tomorrow's (Sunday) game. We would like to have
a more balanced bowling attack by changing it a little. It's good that we can choose from quality players," Kohli said on the eve of the match.
Whether Kohli would like to have both Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the attack or replace Umesh Yadav, who looked very flat in the previous game, with Mohammed Shami is still up for speculation.
The skipper however said that change in personnel was just one side of the coin, implementing the plans and showing intensity was more important.
'No guarantee'
"No matter what combination we go with, we have to stick to the game plan. In one-day cricket no one can guarantee a win, but having said that, I want to add we have to bowl well in order to win games. That's how I see it," Kohli said.
The skipper also said that the batting too needs to show some urgency and push for those 20-odd extra runs as cover for a bowler or two, who may have an off day.
"I don't see that (the batting) as a major issue. Maybe, we will have to push harder now in the next game to give us a 20-run cushion," the skipper added. As defending champions, the pressure will definitely be on India, as the supporters will accept nothing but a victory.
India have slipped once but they cannot afford another, else it will be curtains for them even before the knockouts.
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