Even if Pakistan does India a favour by beating Australia tomorrow, Dhoni's men will HAVE to conquer WI pace, something which they have not done in the recent past
Even if Pakistan does India a favour by beating Australia tomorrow, Dhoni's men will HAVE to conquer WI pace, something which they have not done in the recent past
It's been 26 years since India shocked the West Indies at Lord's to win its one and only 50-50 cricket World Cup.
India were underdogs then. Today, the West Indies, who India have to beat to keep their Champions Trophy chances open, are underdogs.
Underdogs, who can bite no matter how little experience they have as a group. The West Indians are not at full strength due to a Players vs Board dispute.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Indian team's world status notwithstanding, they are well and truly under the gun.
Rain caused Australia and India to share points at Centurion yesterday, but the manner in which Australia batted losing only four wickets while making 234 in 42.3 overs it won't take a genius to tell which side was on top.
What's needed
India's hopes now rest on a win over the West Indies tomorrow and an Australia loss to Pakistan. Dhoni's men have to show West Indies the door in convincing fashion.
India have to tackle an inexperienced Caribbean team with no encouragementu00a0 save a chat with legends Sir Garry Sobers and Wes Hall back home and a meeting withu00a0 Brian Lara, who bumped into them at the airport before their departure to Johannesburg.
A pace attack (Kemar Roach, Gavin Tonge, Darren Sammy and Tino Best) can do much harm if the opposition happen to be poor players of pace bowling.
It would be unfair to single India out when it comes to dealing with speed. Other teams have problems too, but it is a fact that this factor contributed towards their inability to defend their World T20 crown in England. And yes, the West Indies were one of the sides, who sent India crashing out of the competition.
Little-known paceman Tonge troubled Pakistan recently and his four wickets all but won his side the game.
Pakistan were reeling at 61-4 before they recovered to post their first win in the tournament. To say that Tonge is quick is an understatement. He has impressed all-time great Wasim Akram, who reckons he can run through any batting side on his day.
"I am highly impressed with Tonge. He is fearless and his strengths are line and length. He is quite tall with a high-arm action and has the makings of a true fast West Indian bowler," the Sultan of swing said.
The Johannesburg pitch will assist the pace bowlers better than Centurion and it is here where Dhoni's young team has to come to the fore. Game on, guys!
