Consolidation, momentum, personal flourish and run rate boost will be India’s game plan for this comparatively stress-free match against minnows UAE on Saturday. Sitting pretty on top of the table with the two most dangerous sides annexed in high intensity games, India can also take this one for pitch acclimatisation, what with the West Indies game coming up in the next few days at the venue considered the bounciest in the world.
Skipper MS Dhoni, never in favour of giving away the momentum in special missions like a World Cup, is likely to keep the intensity button pressed even for the UAE, a team which is yet to open its account in this edition even though its experienced skipper Mohammad Tauqir stressed that his squad was improving from match to match.
On the face of it, there shouldn’t be much of a competition between the Indian batsmen and the UAE bowlers, or vice versa, considering that the UAE neither has the experience nor the gumption to stand up to an in-form star team like India. What they have though is the intention of playing to their best treating it as a learning lesson in their young journey of the game.
India, meanwhile, has pretty much everything worked out, including the high guard against complacency. Their batters are in blooming form, their partnerships all on the ascendency, their bowlers have emerged as their secret weapon of discipline and squeeze and their big two danger matches are already out of the way.
The skipper, however, would be taking note of how the middle order performs and what needs to be done to tackle the death over choke. This would also mean that the skipper makes a go at stepping out of his lean form and leading the way in the middle. Also, Rohit Sharma who has had a slim beginning till now, will get a chance to swing his willow with a bit more flourish, hopefully away from misfortunes like a run out.
India’s combination is all worked out despite the fact that the star wicket-taker Mohammed Shami (he has six wickets in two matches to his name) will not be playing this match due to a knee niggle. A team management statement to the media said, “Mohammed Shami has mild left knee problem and had an ultrasound guided injection on Thursday. For his long term management perspective, he won’t be available for tomorrow match against UAE.”
Shami was noticeably absent for the two training sessions that India held after arriving in Perth. Though Dhoni hates to change a winning combination, Shami’s absence would give Bhuvneshwar Kumar a chance to return to the palying 11, more so on a pitch that suits his bowling. Bhuvi seems to be the more likely pick over Stuart Binny, though both practised bowling and batting at nets on Friday.
Dhoni also had a minor injury scare on Friday as he hurt his forearm while batting in the nets. He was seen applying ice-pack but team management said Dhoni was fine and there was no problem with him. Speaking to journalists at the WACA on match eve, Melbourne’s Man of the Match Shikhar Dhawan talked about playing with the same fighting spirit and intensity. “We’ve had a few off days to relax so we’re going to play the game the way we have been playing,” he said.
Faced with an inexperienced pace trio of Asanka Guruge, Mohammed Naveed and Amjad Javed, there is a good chance that either Dhawan, Kohli or Rohit does a de Villiers on the UAE bowlers with a furious century like the kind the Proteas skipper scripted in just 52 balls against a hapless West Indies just when the Indians were practising at the WACA.
Which means 43-year-old UAE skipper Tauqir would have to work really hard at his off breaks, and Swapnil Patil with his bat if there has to be any sizzle in the show. Tauqir, who debuted against India at an Asia Cup match at Dambulla in 2004, is aware of India’s run making potential and said, “We know they are big stars, but we will take this game like the last previous two games. This intensity is going to be the same and we will not be intimidated by their names or their status.”
One doesn’t know about intensity, but there is definitely fun waiting in the wings, most probably for India.