Mumbai: India, on an amazing Grand Slam trajectory in this World Cup, have trotted into Mumbai as the tournament’s only unbeaten team to meet Sri Lanka who are on the other end of the spectrum with only two wins from six outings. A lot many tides have washed away the glory of Sri Lanka reaching the World Cup Final in 2011 in the intervening 12 years.
The teardrop island nation, which has been convulsing under a crippling economic crisis, is also a pale shadow of its cricketing greatness. Skipper Kusal Mendis has been valiantly attempting to helm a quick relief operation in the hope of at least a respectable exit from this edition, perhaps to return to the next one as a sorted team.
For tomorrow, the contest will be between the best and the worst, one a table-topper and the other struggling to rise from the bottom end. One all sorted and striding, the other all busted and struggling. Had Cricket not been a masterclass of glorious uncertainties, the result of this upcoming contest would have been a foregone conclusion – a conclusion in India’s favour with two more points and yet another win.
The superlatives around Team India’s all-round performance are all exhausted. The story of sublime form, of multi-dimensional performance, meritorious assignments, and role play have only grown over the course of the six matches, Sharma’s men have won with art and craft.
Also read: England pacer David Willey announces retirement from international cricket after World Cup
If it was champion chaser Virat Kohli and his partner in rescue operations K L Rahul, who saved the team from the inaugural batting blip, with three wickets gone for just five runs against Australia, it was the return of Mohammed Shami with a five-for against New Zealand, or the comprehensive show against a floundering Pakistan or, for that matter, the bowlers coming into full play to annihilate defending champions England at Lucknow after the batters could add only 229 to the total – fables have come out of all departments of this team – bowling more than batting and fielding.
It seems the elements are coming together for Sharma, with even the absence of Hardik Pandya due to injury has served a purpose for the team. Had Pandya not injured his ankle in a bowling incident, Team India management would not have tinkered with their winning combination. Both Surya Kumar Yadav, whose gritty 49 against England is fresh on his ultra fertile bat, and Shami who scalped nine wickets in just two matches to be the new death-runner for oppositions, have got a lifetime opportunity from the changed permutation pushed in due to Pandya.
Sharma has talked about the roles assigned to every player and plan B and C in case of failure on one front. The squad has taken instructions with all the seriousness that stems out of a keen need to succeed. While Rahul has shown his quiet strength both behind the wicket and in front of it, Sharma has led the charge with his rocket run abilities veneered in lazy elegance.
But the golden story has been of the bowlers who have outplayed and outshined tricky circumstances that get generated at the drop of the wicket. The quicks have hunted in packs as have the two spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. The return of Shami has signaled a hierarchy change in the pace department with Siraj being pushed to a useful third in the face of the Bumrah-Shami whirlpool that the visiting batsmen have been subjected to.
Kuldeep, with the golden locks and a golden arm, has been sensational with his wristy turns. Together, India’s bowling unit has become top-rated, outdoing the Aussies and the Proteas to be universally hailed as a unit to be feared and respected. Meeting such a Raymond complete Team India would be the ultimate challenge for the Lankans who have been hunting for their mojo through the tournament. Only a celestial comeback into the middle will be able to defeat the self-trust and unmatched skills of Sharma’s warriors.
The Lankans would be required to raise their level to an incredibly higher stratosphere if at all they have to impact the Indian juggernaut. The only weak link in India has surprisingly been the cheap returns of its famed young guns Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, the latter hitting out at short ball deliveries at nets to somehow get over his vulnerabilities.
Gill, the highest run-getter this year, has been a pale replica of his former self in the three matches he has played thus far, after returning from dengue. Soft dismissals are not terms that are associated with this grounded and sound batsman whose return to form will be keenly awaited and Lanka may just provide him that much-needed statement of intent.
Iyer made his only 53-plus score in the chase against Pakistan. He, too, will be looking at some relief scoring at Wankhede which has been the skipper’s favourite ground. A Hitman show on his home ground will be wanting to be in full swing when the innings open tomorrow afternoon. There will be extra motivation to put that all behind when Iyer walks out at the Wankhede Stadium, playing a World Cup game on his home ground.
Sri Lanka, though not the ones to give up despite all the faltering and the hopelessness, the injuries, and unavailability of key players, will be relying on their youth fire to salvage their campaign or play for pride. The names that come in handy are Sadeera Samarawickrama (331 runs in six games), Pathum Nissanka with four consecutive fifties in the World Cup as also skipper Kusal Mendis and his batting acumen.
If Lanka’s bowlers and batters hunt together, Team India may just be cornered, though on paper that looks like a tall order. All said, bleed Blue is the mantra, the chant, and the reality of this World Cup.
Also read: World Cup 2023: Fitness freak Marcus Stoinis travelling with Indian chef across India
