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.
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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.
