At major events like an ODI World Cup, teams can take it easy once qualification for the knockout stages of the tournament is confirmed. However, if you were in Bengaluru and saw India, who are in red-hot form and undefeated in the tournament so far, train before the match, you might be forgiven for thinking that they were playing a must-win clash against Netherlands on Sunday.
Across two optional training sessions, that were held on Wednesday and Friday, all the players spent a considerable amount of time in the nets, honing their skills ahead of the last league fixture.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
On Wednesday, 10 Indian players turned up for the first optional training session. On Friday, 14 players featured in the second optional practice session.
The likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan opted to have a batting stint in the Bengaluru sun on Saturday. India may have been aware that they would face a sterner test in the semis, in the form of New Zealand, on Wednesday in Mumbai, but they were not taking the Netherlands as lightly as many thought they would.
There is also a small matter of Virat Kohli approaching to his 50th ODI hundred in his adopted hometown, in front of a crowd that could go delirious with every move of his on Sunday.
The Men in Blue have faced the Netherlands twice in ODI World Cups and won both those fixtures, in 2003 and 2011. There is a chance that they might face the Dutch four years later, as well with the tournament returning to a 14-team affair in the African continent.
The Netherlands enter the match against India, last on the points table with two wins in nine matches. However, don’t let the table fool you entirely about the potential that Scott Edwards’ side has in their ranks. Bas de Leede has been the most impressive of the Dutch bowlers, having claimed 14 wickets in eight matches and would hope to have a telling impact on Sunday.
The likes of Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt and Teja Nidamanuru will hope to impress the Indian fans and catch the eye of some of the Indian players, ahead of the IPL auctions in December.
The one factor that the Dutch need to be mindful of is that, unlike the eight previous matches, the crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium will be rooting predominantly for one team on Sunday. They may have played at other venues which would have had decent attendance and might have found support coming their way at those venues, but Sunday will be a different experience altogether for them with the fans rooting for the Men in Blue from the first ball.
Firecracker bursting will be restricted to 8-10 pm in Karnataka on Diwali day, but fans will hope that the Men in Blue and the Men in Orange can compensate for that by giving an exciting contest to end the group stages of the tournament on a high.
What: India vs Netherlands, Match 45, ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
When: November 12, 2023, 2:00 pm IST.
Where: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
India
The Men in Blue, who will face New Zealand in the semifinals on Wednesday, might be tempted to make one change to the playing XI on Sunday, bringing in local lad Prasidh Krishna for Mohammed Siraj.
Likely playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Netherlands
The Netherlands will hope to put in their best showing against the hosts and ensure that they try to finish their tournament on a high on Sunday.
Likely playing XI: Wesley Barresi, Max ODowd, Colin Ackermann, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren
WHAT THEY SAID
“You can debate whether we have to stick to the rules as they are. Or you have to sometimes give a little leeway for a little bit of spirit of cricket. And there’ll be people on both sides of the camp. And I think just understanding that it’s okay to have those differences is fine. It’s fine to have those differences and some people might agree or not agree with certain decisions that were taken,”- Rahul Dravid gives his take on the spirit of cricket debate.
“I’ve been very proud personally of the effort that all the guys have put in. We hit this last game, last on the leg, but you would never know that by being in and around the team – you’d never sort of see a dull moment, the connection between the group, the cohesion, the unity that we stand for is probably even stronger than it’s ever been,” Netherlands head coach Ryan Cook on the team’s performance at the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Comments
0 comment