Its hyped as the financial powerhouse of cricket vs. the hosts. Both India and WI need to win this game to stay in the competition (mathematically, anyway). The loser of the game is all but sure, out of the tournament.
India will be expecting a barrage of short bowling from Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor and even Dwanye Bravo, similar to what they faced against the WI in the 2009 T20 world cup super 8’s match at the Lords. Looks like the start has been delayed and the early reports are that the pitch could be a bit wet. Which means, team winning the toss might be tempted to bowl first.
India would like to bat first I would think, but it will totally depend on their bowling combination. If they go in to the match with 2 seamers, the way they did against Australia 2 days ago, it makes sense to bowl second. However, I’d think there will be changes to the playing 11. Yusauf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja are in trouble, in my opinion. YKP’s role has not been defined in the team and his performance is suffering from that. Jadeja is definitely off-color – perhaps, due to his lack of match fitness. (He wasn’t allowed to play in IPL 2010 remember?).
If those were to be cut, then I’d think Piyush Chawla will come in as the 2nd spinner and Vinay Kumar/Umesh Yadav will be brought in as the 3rd seamer. Umesh has shown he has extra bit of pace but Vinay has shown the knack to take wickets in IPL. But Vinay performed under the tutelage of Steyn and the safe blanket of Kumble in IPL for the Royal Challengers team, so, that luxury doesn’t exist anymore. Therefore, I’d pick Umesh for his pace. What do you think?
What do you guys have in mind in terms of team composition, total, batting first etc.?
The Cricket Couch 