As old yellow taxis with their ‘no refusal’ signage rumbled on roads around the iconic Eden Gardens, the South Africans trained inside a venue where they have a historic connect. During the post-apartheid era, India welcomed back South Africa into the cricketing fold and on November 10, 1991, Clive Rice’s men tussled with the Men in Blue.
Kolkata showered unbridled affection upon the visitors and even though South Africa lost that ODI, it has built a fine legacy over the years. An ICC title remains elusive but in the current World Cup, after India, South Africa has been in terrific form despite the loss against the Netherlands. Sunday’s clash between the host and Temba Bavuma’s men, is perhaps the biggest game of this premier championship even if India against Pakistan had an emotional resonance in Ahmedabad.
Leading into this key battle, South Africa has flourished while batting first and defeated Sri Lanka (by 102 runs), Australia (134), England (229), Bangladesh (149) and New Zealand (190). Quinton de Kock, with a tally of 545 runs, has been in remarkable touch, and Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen too have contributed while Heinrich Klaasen has flexed his batting muscle.
However, chasing has been a nervy issue as evident in the loss to the Netherlands and the narrow one-wicket victory over Pakistan. Among the bowlers, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada have been among the wickets. If the usual India angle involved its batters against rival bowlers, the converse would be the theme now as much would hinge on how the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami get through South Africa’s batting order.
Striding in undefeated, Rohit Sharma’s men have taken everything in their stride. Even if Saturday morning’s news-break involving seamer Prasidh Krishna replacing an injured Hardik Pandya meant that the unit’s all-round balance turned askew, the management has obviously embraced the aggressive ‘six batters, five bowlers’ theory.
The recent triumph over Sri Lanka at Mumbai, also ushered in smooth runs from Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer. With Rohit and Virat Kohli being the lead stars, India’s batting has gained heft over the last few weeks. K.L. Rahul has looked fine and Suryakumar Yadav has slotted in well.
With a semifinal berth sealed, India is heading towards the business end of the World Cup. It is a stage that turned murky both in 2015 and 2019, but Rohit believes in taking one step at a time. A theory that his colleagues are equally invested in as they size up South Africa while the mild drizzle here over the last few days is expected to be a gentle intervention at best.
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