If by a miracle, all vehicles on the roads around this mega city’s maidans stop in unison, drivers avoid pressing those blaring horns, and vendors stay mum, the resultant silence will be punctured by the sound of a million red cherries thudding into eager bats.
Cricket is all-pervading in Mumbai and at the Wankhede Stadium with its various hat-tips to great cricketers, the latest being a Sachin Tendulkar statue, India will take on Sri Lanka in a World Cup game on Thursday. The Men in Blue are on a roll. Most opposition teams have been accounted for and after the duel involving Sri Lanka, there will be the looming presence of South Africa at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens this Sunday. Much later, the Netherlands will await India at Bengaluru and by then hopefully, its semifinal rival would become evident.
Cut to the here and now, Sri Lanka, the 1996 champion, and at one stage perennial finalists, has lost its way. The rebuilding phase after the retirements of various stalwarts, has been an extended journey. In the present campaign, Kusal Mendis and his men notched victories over England and the Netherlands. However, losses against South Africa, Pakistan, Australia and Afghanistan, have left the neighbours from across the Palk Strait, rowing a leaky boat on rough seas.
In the previous two World Games at this venue, the South Africans reigned supreme, batting first and winning by handsome margins against England and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka needs its runs and for now only Sadeera Samarawickrama and Pathum Nissanka have offered sustenance. Among the bowlers, left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka has been among the wickets while his support cast has turned mute.
Against an upbeat host, Sri Lanka has to be at its best, and perhaps that would be the ideal tribute the men from the Emerald Isle could offer to their greatest fan, the departed Uncle Percy, formally known as Percy Abeysekera. India, meanwhile, would press forward and try and seal its seemingly pre-ordained semifinal berth. Two cups have been won, but it is also equally remarkable that the legacy involves seven semifinal appearances spread across 1983, 1987, 1996, 2003, 2011, 2015 and 2019.
A batting phalanx with skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli showing the way, and an equally potent attack headlined by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, have collectively proved to be a tough barricade that rivals just cannot scale across. The last time India and Sri Lanka clashed in a World Cup game in Mumbai, it was the summer of 2011 and the final bequeathed a wondrous title to M.S. Dhoni’s men. This is a memory to cherish while a fresh path is being carved.
The teams.
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), K.L. Rahul (wicket-keeper), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav.
Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (captain & wicket-keeper), Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Charith Asalanka, Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Kusal Perera, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka and Dushmantha Chameera.
Umpires: Chris Brown and Paul Reiffel; Third umpire: Rodney Tucker; Match referee: Jeff Crowe.
Match starts at 2 p.m.
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