ST LUCIA: The small island, with the Caribbean Sea on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, is absolutely buzzing. For the last couple of days –cricket tourists –mostly Indians from the US and Canada –have been trooping in for an extended weekend, and once the Saturday night theatre happened in St Vincent, the excitement has gone up manifold.
T20 WORLD CUP: SCHEDULE | POINTS TABLE
Australia’s defeat to Afghanistan has suddenly opened up the possibility for the Indian fans who are here and those across the world to finally get their redemption.The defeat to the Aussies in the ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad in November is something no one related to Indian cricket has forgotten, and now it’s a chance to pay the Aussies back with interest. A win on Monday for India will not only officially seal for them a semis berth, but also show Australia the door, provided Afghanistan beat Bangladesh later on Monday.
The Indian team, that came in here late on Saturday night and cancelled their practice session on Sunday owing to exhaustion and the extreme humidity in this part of the world, would also surely be licking their lips.
On current form, there’s absolutely no reason why India wouldn’t beat their biggest rivals Australia, making their own journey forward a little smoother. India apart, there is no other team than Australia which has so many individual match-winners who can destroy opposition on their day. If they can be taken care of before the semis, Rohit Sharma‘s boys would probably have to just carry on playing the way they are and this cup would be theirs.
The Darren Sammy International Stadium, the venue of this game, though has been slightly different from most other venues across the Caribbean. Scores have fluctuated between 180-220, barring the last game between South Africa and England, which the Proteas won with 163. Normally the ball does come on to the bat here which should be a bit of a relief for Aussies, who were absolutely strangled by the Afghanistan bowlers on the super slow St Vincent track.
Australia had chosen to drop Mitchell Starc and add left-arm spinner Ashton Agar in the playing XI on Saturday. Even though Agar was extremely economical (0/17), there was no denying that Starc’s explosive ability to run through opposition in Powerplay was missed.
Aussies will be tempted to bring Starc back for this huge game, even though the average economy rate of spinners in St Lucia is 7.9 in the five matches played, which is significantly better than it is for the pacers (9.4).
Captain Mitchell Marsh knows it, but he also knows that if they are to make a match of it against a marauding India, they will first have to deal with the mental scars of a defeat like this in a turnaround time of mere 36 hours.
“First things first, we have to recover. We have a lot of belief in our group because we know we are a good cricket team. We had an off night but I guess there’s also a positive in the fact that in 36 hours we go again. It’s a big game –a must-win. I think if you look back at the short history of this team, I know for a fact that it brings out the best in our guys, so the boys will certainly be up and about for it,” Marsh put up a brave face on Saturday night.
For India, it’s way more straightforward. Every constituent part of the Indian machine has been running smoothly and it’s about keeping it going. No change is expected in the playing XI and with Jasprit Bumrah in outstanding form, one can hope the threat of Travis Head upfront will be taken care of. The explosive left-hander has caused enough heart-burns for India across formats, but he is coming off a failure against Afghanistan.
Everything points to a perfect day for Team India and its fans, it’s just about Rohit and his boys to maintain the composure that they have shown in the World Cup so far.