India go into their Super Sixes clash against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers here on Monday determined to bridge the cracks that still dog their World Cup campaign.
One more win from the two remaining matches will guarantee the Indians their first World Cup semi-final away from the sub-continent since Kapil Dev’s team won the title in England 1983. But neither Sri Lanka nor New Zealand, whom India play at Centurion next Friday, can be considered easy and skipper Sourav Ganguly has urged his team-mates to raise their intensity levels.
”We want to keep the momentum going and get to the next round,” he said.
”We may have won six of our seven matches so far, but all that will go to waste if we fail to qualify for the semi-finals.”
India reached the semi-finals in the 1987 and 1996 tournaments played at home, but finished short in 1992 in Australia and in England four years ago. Brilliant wins over arch-rivals Pakistan and England in the preliminary league have not overshadowed the fact that at least three batsmen are short of runs and the fielding needs a marked improvement.
Explosive opener Virender Sehwag is yet to fire, having contributed just 117 runs in seven innings with a best of 36 against Zimbabwe. Mohammad Kaif hit a valuable 35 against Pakistan but aggregates only 45 runs in six other innings, while Dinesh Mongia’s best was 42 against the Netherlands.
If the lack of runs from these three was not enough, the Indians received a rude shock when they dropped four catches during a tense six-wicket win over Kenya at Newlands on Friday. ”We’ve got to be on our toes all the time,” Ganguly said, but
believed it would not be long before Sehwag, Kaif and Mongia got among the runs.
”It’s not a matter of one player coming good. Everyone has to contribute.”
Ganguly said the poor fielding against Kenya was an exception. ”We have fielded well throughout the tournament. I would like to think it was just an off-day.”
Monday’s match promises an exciting contest between the highest run-getter in the tournament, Sachin Tendulkar, and the leading wicket-taker Chaminda Vaas. In the last 10 meetings between the two sides, India have won five, Sri Lanka three while two matches of the Champions Trophy final in Colombo were washed out.
Their last World Cup clash four years ago was one-sided as India pulverised Sri Lanka by 157 runs at Taunton following big centuries from Rahul Dravid and Ganguly.
The duo, along with in-form Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, will once again hold fort as India look for a big score on what is expected to be a superb batting wicket at the Wanderers.
Tendulkar is the tournament’s leading scorer with 474 runs while Ganguly is the only batsman to hit two centuries. Vaas has 16 wickets so far. Ganguly added Sri Lanka were a tought side to beat — with or without Sanath Jayasuriya who is recovering from a bruised forearm and fractured thumb following a hit by Australian fast bowler Brett Lee.
”It will obviously be an advantage for us if Sanath does not play, but they are a good side and we need to bat and bowl well against them.” – Sapa-AFP