While the stadium has changed — Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) ground has given way to a $1.6 billion behemoth named the Optus stadium — conditions haven’t changed much. And that’s why India will have their task cut out against the South African pace attack that boasts the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje.
What will help India is that they have spent a lot of time in Perth during the preparatory phase and played two practice matches against Western Australia side. The match could well turn out to be a contest between South Africa’s bowlers and India’s batters.
As Alan Mullaly, the former England fast bowler who emigrated to Perth more than a decade ago and coaches here, said, “You need to play differently and play to the conditions. India has already shown how good their batting is and against a quality South African attack we should have a great contest. Virat is playing very well and Surya Kumar Yadav seems to be in the form of his life. Despite some early help from the wicket, South Africa won’t find it any easy either.”
While few are speaking about the South African batting, Quinton De Kock and David Miller have almost always played well against India and will fancy an opportunity against a line-up that doesn’t have Jasprit Bumrah. Rilee Rossouw has made a spectacular comeback at this level, the century against Bangladesh is the proof, and it could be dangerous to underestimate the South African batting unit.
“We have played India so many times in recent times, it is as if we know each person inside out. The series against India earlier this month means we know what they can do. They are a good unit no doubt but that doesn’t mean we will be overawed,” said a senior member of the South Africa management while boarding the flight from Sydney to Perth on Friday morning.
Fortunately, the weather is not going to play spoilsport. Weather forecast for Sunday is good and there is no chance of rain. It means there will be a full game and the winner will go on to top the group and have a foot in the semi-finals. Going into the match, there are two areas of concern for India. The performance against the Netherlands notwithstanding, there are still question marks over Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel. Both have the ability and potential but they need to deliver in a big game to justify their selections.
India will be hoping that KL Rahul, a man with immense potential, delivers at the top. With Rohit Sharma having scored runs and spent some time in the middle and Kohli back at his best, runs from Rahul’s bat will mean the Indian top-order is in good shape ahead of the all-important knockout stages of the tournament.
Perth, compared to all Australian cities, is a quiet one. In fact, some even call it a dead city of sorts with very little action going on. The only real action here is sport and as a result the city is all excited about the India-South Africa contest today.
