Bowling magic meets batting method

Tribune News Service

Rohit Mahajan

Kolkata, November 4

The fiery pace of one team, the batting power of the other — the top-2 teams of the tournament clash for supremacy in the league stage tomorrow.

Such analyses are commonplace in sport, but this particular situation is patently absurd — because it’s the Indian pace bowling attack that is frightening, and it’s the South African batting machine that’s all-conquering.

It’s evident that weird things are happening and the roles have been reversed — the Indian pacemen are seen as the world’s best and South Africa’s batters are topping the charts.

3In five ODI World Cup matches between the two teams, the Proteas have won three and the Men in Blue have won two

12Marco Jansen has picked up 12 wickets in the powerplay in this World Cup — the most by any bowler in that phase

Mohammed Shami averages an unbelievable 6.71 a wicket for his 14 wickets in three matches in the tournament — and he wouldn’t have been in the team if Hardik Pandya hadn’t suffered an ankle injury! Jasprit Bumrah has got 15 wickets in seven games, average 14.60 — he came back to the sport only in August, after an 11-month break due to a back injury. It is almost absurd that his bowling hasn’t been affected by injury or layoff.

South Africa opener Quinton de Kock has hammered four centuries in seven innings for a total of 545 runs, the most in the tournament — this after having announced his decision to retire from ODIs after the World Cup, in order to focus to “top up” on money from the T20 leagues.

Four South African batsmen have scored over 300 runs, and they have eight centuries among them. They have a total of 1,575 runs at an average of over 60.

The three premier Indian pacemen have 36 wickets among them, average 17.15; spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja have picked up 19 wickets at 24.94. Is the South African batting line-up really that strong? Is this the greatest Indian bowling attack ever? If the two teams don’t crumble under their own expectations, or the sense of the occasion, we could get accurate answers to these questions tomorrow.

Not that India have been slouch with the bat — they mostly won easily when they batted second in their first five games, the closest win being by a healthy four wickets, with 12 balls remaining. Batting first, they were tested by England, who had India down at 182/6, but their bowlers then destroyed England for 129. Sri Lanka asked India to bat first in Mumbai, on a placid track, and paid with a 302-run defeat. Thus, India’s batters have faced varied conditions and excelled — though they’ve been put in the shade by the breathtaking swing and nip of the bowling of Shami, Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Temba Bavuma, the South African captain, said he’d be wary of the Indian pace for several reasons. “Their bowlers, you don’t get a lot of bad balls. Like I said, the three upfront — Bumrah, Siraj, as well as Shami — are guys who can exploit anything with that new ball,” said Bavuma. “If there’s swing, if there’s nip, they can exploit that.”

Rahul Dravid, the India coach, had a mouthful of praise for the South Africans. He said it’s a contest between two teams playing very good cricket. “They’ve also travelled across the country. And they’ve got a good balance in their side,” Dravid said. “Some of the batsmen, they’ve been putting up really big scores.”

Bavuma said if his team were to lose, he wouldn’t call it a choke. “I think if we come unstuck tomorrow, I don’t think it’ll be a matter of choking. I doubt you would say that about India as well if they come unstuck if they would choke,” the captain said. Dravid, too, is alive to the possibility of his unconquered side getting beaten. “In every department, we’ve executed our skills really, really well,” said the coach. “And if we keep executing our skills, and if somebody outplays us and beats us — then good luck! We shake their hands and walk away.”

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#Rohit Sharma