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2019 world cup semi final
July 10, 2019. It was around four in the evening and there was silence in the Old Trafford Stadium of England.
The first semi-final of the ODI Cricket World Cup was about to end.
The New Zealand team had scored a total of 239 runs in its first innings which was interrupted by rain a day earlier and India had to complete this target in 50 overs by the next day.
I was also present in the stadium and in the morning I had met Kulwinder Singh Gill who had come from Yorkshire to watch the match.
Before the start of the Indian innings, he had said, “My uncle came to England from Gurdaspur, Punjab in 1980 to work as a mechanic and I was born in 1982. Bauji and Mummyji tell that in 1983, when Kapil Paji’s team reached the final against West Indies at Lord’s, Bauji traveled by bus to watch the match. Today I have come to this semi-final, so Team India has to win, Paji”.
On the evening of 10th July, Kulwinder was again standing next to me when the players of Team India boarded the bus with disappointed faces following coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli.
When the team bus was leaving the Lancashire Cricket Club gate after losing by 18 runs, the disappointed Indian fans were fuming with anger.
Kulwinder just said, “Paaji, now I am not going to come to watch any World Cup match of India.”
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memories of crushing defeat
This Sunday, when the Indian team will play a league match against New Zealand in Dharamshala, memories of the bitter defeat in the last World Cup will have come to the mind of almost everyone once or twice.
Here were the scores of the top order batsmen while New Zealand were chasing 239 in that semi-final:
KL Rahul – 1 run
Rohit Sharma – 1 run
Virat Kohli- 1 run
Dinesh Karthik- 6 runs
Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya had played innings of 32-32 runs and Dhoni was able to score 50 runs with great difficulty after playing a slow innings and was far from his prime form.
Only Ravindra Jadeja played fast and added 77 runs in just 59 balls but that was not enough.
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India’s top order was shattered in the semi-finals of the last World Cup.
New day, new competition
It has been four years since this happened and India is hosting the 2023 ODI World Cup. The start of the tournament has also been strong.
India has won all four of the first four matches, in which apart from defeating Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the team comfortably defeated former champions Australia and Pakistan.
There is definitely a big concern in the Indian camp for the match against New Zealand. Hardik Pandya suffered an ankle injury while bowling in the last match and he is not available for this match.
There are few options before the Indian team management. In place of all-rounder Hardik Pandya, either play batsman Suryakumar Yadav and in place of Shardul Thakur, replace Ashwin or Mohammed Shami.
Giving place to Ashwin may prove to be a bit difficult in case the Indian team has to bowl in the second innings, then after the evening, due to dew in this hilly stadium, the ball skids and the spinner faces difficulty.
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On the other hand, playing Mohammed Shami in place of Shardul Thakur makes the team’s batting a little weak.
The pitch of Dharamshala is said to be excellent for fast bowling and the bowlers will also get the support of the boundaries on both sides of the ground which are 85 and 75 meters.
Therefore, the general opinion seems to be that the team winning the toss should bowl first.
However, former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Ian Smith feels that ‘there could be a good chance for India’.
He said, “See, when teams keep winning in big tournaments, they hesitate in changing their winning combination. But injuries to players etc. also force the compulsion to try new combinations, which is very important if you are one of the top teams in a tournament that lasts for almost two months.”
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Hardik Pandya is not playing in this match due to injury
new zealand confidence
This match is also important for New Zealand because in the tournament so far, if any team has challenged them in the points table, it has been India.
Although, both the teams have won all their four opening matches but on the basis of run rate, New Zealand is on top and India is in second place.
New Zealand player Mitchell Santner looked very alert about the upcoming match with India after the previous win. He said, “India is a very strong team in home conditions and at the moment they are also playing top cricket”.
Well, like India, the New Zealand team is doing one thing well in this tournament. That is the tight fast bowling during the middle overs due to which wickets are being taken and the opposition is also coming under pressure.
Tom Latham, who is captaining due to Kane Williamson’s injury, has successfully used Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson.
In batting, apart from captain Latham, Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips have given solid innings to the team from time to time, due to which New Zealand has not only been able to score big scores but its average run rate has also been very high.
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Many New Zealand batsmen including Rachin Ravindra are in good form.
According to Jonathan Agnew, former England cricketer and member of the BBC TMS broadcast team, “New Zealand’s batting has looked the most solid in this World Cup.”
He further said, “It is true that in the four matches played so far, they have not faced any challenge from any big team other than England in the bowling department, but their batsmen are definitely playing fearlessly. If the series continues against India, it will be difficult to stop them till the final.
However, from Sunday morning everyone’s attention will be not only on the playing field but also on the sky above.
According to the Meteorological Department, Dharamshala will remain cloudy throughout the day and there is a possibility of rain between 2 pm to 4 pm, due to which not only the toss may be postponed but the match may also be shortened.
The last match played at this ground between South Africa and Netherlands had to be reduced to 43 overs per team due to rain.
