India defeated South Africa in both the 2015 World Cup and the previous edition of the Champions Trophy in 2013. The star of those matches was Shikhar Dhawan with centuries in both of them. He once again looks in sublime form, peeling of crisp shots and timing the ball superbly in the India's first two games.
His opening partner Rohit Sharma looked set for hundreds of his own in the first two matches before being dismissed. These two set good platforms for India in their first two matches allowing the middle order to capitalise and post big scores.
Overall the team's batting looks seems to be doing well. Indian skipper Virat Kohli gained back his form against Pakistan and Yuvraj Singh looked in full rhythm in the same match. Hardik Pandya's valuable contribution against the arch-rivals showed the depth in India's batting and Dhoni batted in his usual assured style against Sri lanka. Therefore, the Indian batting line-up looks as well-endowed as ever in this tournament but what made experts bullish on India's chances in this tournament was the talent of their bowling line-up.
However, the performance against lanka seemed to suggest that things haven't changed much with India's limited overs bowling.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was his usual self, bowling a good line and length and trying to get the ball to swing early on. But the rest of the bowling attack proved largely ineffective. Umesh Yadav's pace was of no great help against Sri lanka and Jasprit Bumrah looked far from the limited overs specialist that he has come to be regarded as. Hardik Pandya seemed like an innocuous medium pacer and Ravindra Jadeja was dealt with harshly in conditions where the ball just didn't grip.
India may think about bringing in Mohammad Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin into the side for the virtual quarterfinal. Bhuvneshwar is likely to retain his place on account of his swing bowling expertise while Bumrah's ability to bowl yorkers would be valued inspite of his shortcoming in the previous match. Hence, if Shami has to come in, it would be Umesh who might lose his place in the side. If the pitch seems dry, then India may go in with a two-pronged spin attack of Ashwin and Jadeja who can tie the batsmen down with their accuracy and variations. However, the pitches haven't assisted spinners as they did in the 2013 edition of the tournament where the spin duo of India proved extremely potent. Akshay Sharma