M S Dhoni knows how to win the World Cups. Mohammed Shami is the most impressive among the faster-ever Indian pace attack. And, Ajinkya Rahane is India’s man of the future.
These and many other accolades were showered on India and their amazing run thus far in the World Cup by former cricketing greats Michael Vaughan and Brett lee.
It was on the beautiful Sydney ferry wharf overlooking the impressive Sydney Harbour and the iconic Opera House that Vaughan and lee found time to have an interaction with fans and media alike.
“Australia played India some 10 times and Australian won on every occasion. But there is something about MS Dhoni and World Cups… The change in the way they have played in the World Cup compared to way they played in the tri-series…. It’s a 50-50 caller,” Vaughan predicted.
lee, on the other hand, felt that if the Indian pacers land in the right spot, they would have a really good chance to get wickets and win. “When they are on song and bowling fast, then they are definitely up there as I mentioned. They are in the 145kmph barrier,” the Aussie pacer said.
Vaughan’s recipe for success at Sydney come March 26, meanwhile, was all about early risers. “The team that plays well in the first 15 overs of the match, be it with the ball or bat is the team that gets ahead and wins that game. India have all got power, all got finesse, they have got different kind of angles to create in the field. MS Dhoni knows how to win World Cups and that goes quite a long way,” Vaughan said.
And if the Englishman picked Rahane as India’s textbook correct future, lee felt that Shami was the biggest metamorphosis in India’s favour.
“Mohammed Shami has got the most number of wickets in the tournament and he is right up there. I have played a fair bit of cricket with Shami and he is a wonderful guy. He comes in hard,” lee said, quickly clarifying that even though Shami may be the game changer, as an Aussie, he would be cheering for Australia.
For Vaughan, besides Dhoni’s stratagems, Rahane is the rainbow batsman. “Rahane is the best technician among Indian players. He plays quicks and spin as well as anybody,” he said.
“It’s his alignment at the crease. He doesn’t get that left-foot too far across and that’s why he has got great balance on the back-foot. He has not only got options of playing both cut shots and pull shots but also has the option of going down the ground. When you have those options as a batsman, you make it difficult for opposition to set fields. He can allow the ball to come to him. In the next four or five years, you will be talking a lot about Rahane,” he said.
But Vaughan soon took the middle path, adding that he loved the strengths of both India and Australia.
“The Indian team has a wonderful array of batsmen who have been there and done that. With MSD, they have a firecracker. For Aussies, Maxwell has had a wonderful tournament. He has the ability to hit the ball 360 degrees from ball No 1. If Maxwell has his day, India can’t win as he would score 100 in 50 balls. MS can do the similar but it’s generally down to the foundation. Aussies will come out powerfully with Warner and Finch. Solid batting in terms of Clarke and Smith but spin twins Ashwin and Jadeja’s combination will be very important. Smith and Clarke will be crucial for Australia as these two are the best players of spin and one of them at least will have to get a decent score,” he opined.
At SCG though, Vaughan said, irrespective of team strength, it is usually a bat first wicket. “Get runs on the board… I say, winning the toss gives you a 20 per cent sway. Come Thursday, it will be about which of the team plays better,” he said, playing safe.
Commenting on the slow nature of the SCG pitch, Vaughan felt that had India been given the option to choose the semi-final venue, it would have chosen SCG against Australia. And that’s because it has the class of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
“It will take some spin. Ashwin is getting the ball to shape through the air, which is very important to his style of bowling. They are looking at what Tahir did in the quarter-final,” he said.
Though Vaughan didn’t much like what happened between Shane Watson and Wahab Riaz at Adelaide, he admitted some words would, indeed, fly at Sydney on Thursday.
“You are going to pretty much see that when you play Australia. It isn’t going to be quiet and I like to see competitive edge, a bit of confrontation. I don’t think I enjoyed the Wahab Riaz-Shane Watson confrontation… a little bit of sledging, banter is okay. I am sure Indians will give it back in plenty,” he said.
lee, on his part, gave 100/100 to both teams and said, “It is going to be a tremendous atmosphere.
“With 50-odd thousand people in the SCG, fully packed, we know how passionate the Indian fans are.
“They love to scream and be nice and loud. So it is going to be exciting. I think it just comes down to obviously the toss and who brings their best game on game-day going forward,” he concluded.