Camera: Shiv Kumar Maurya
Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
Fans are getting their blues out of the trunks, some are holding havans, and, well, pretty much every Indian cricket fan is trying to make sure that on the evening of 5 June, they are doing nothing but backing the Men in Blue as they play South Africa in their first match of the ICC World Cup 2019.
While this is India’s campaign opener, it’s South Africa’s third game at this World Cup, with the team already losing to England and then Bangladesh.
So, will third time be a charm for them against Virat Kohli, who’s making his debut as a World Cup captain on Wednesday? History definitely suggests so – in the four World Cup games these two teams have played, India have won just one and lost three. And even in overall ODIs, South Africa hold a 46-34 edge.
However, what South Africa don’t have going for them, apart from the defeats, is the string of injuries in their camp. Pacer Lungi Ngidi has been ruled out of the clash against India. Dale Steyn is also yet to make an appearance this World Cup and opener Hashim Amla too has not taken the field after being hit on his helmet by the Jofra Archer bouncer last week.
But South Africa aren’t the only ones with the injury worries. India too had their share of a scare when captain Virat Kohli was hit on his thumb in a training session. After being attended to by the physio, Virat was seen leaving the group with his thumb dipped in a glass of ice.
There’s no status update on Kedar Jadhav either after he picked up a shoulder injury during the IPL and missed both of India’s warm-up games. An injury though, may help solve a problem, for Virat as well.
Vijay Shankar hurt his elbow last week and with KL Rahul scoring a century against Bangladesh, the 3D player may indeed sit this one out.
Injuries aside, India’s openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are yet to fire in England. The duo scored a total of 24 runs in India’s two warm-up matches. But the positive that came out of those two games was the form of KL Rahul, who scored 108 against Bangladesh, more or less resolving India's big No 4 conundrum. And then, of course, there’s MS Dhoni, coming in on the back of another successful IPL season, who also scored a century in the warm-up match, and is likely to cap that illustrious career with this World Cup.
In the end, a fresh Indian team is raring to go against a demoralised South Africa side at Southampton this Wednesday.
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