India vs South Africa 8th Match Preview
India vs South Africa Preview: After waiting for six long days, India will finally play its first match on Wednesday against a side who has looked completely out of sorts in the tournament so far. South Africa have played two matches in the World Cup and has suffered defeat in both the matches.
In a must-win game against one of the favorites of the World Cup, South Africa will hit the ground running on Wednesday with an extremely below-par bowling attack, given both Dale Steyn and Lungi Ngidi have been ruled out of the India-South Africa clash. The Proteas will, however, be betting on their prime fast bowler- Kagiso Rabada to get early breakthroughs in order to put pressure on India.
After being hit on his helmet by Jofra Archer, Hashim Amla availability is also a concern for South Africa ahead of the must-win clash. Though, top-order batsmen with the likes of Quinton De Kock, Aiden Markram, Faf Du Plessis have been amongst the run as they will look continue their good form at The Rose Bowl at Southampton.
Talking about India’s batting line up, Rohit Sharma’s lack of runs in the shorter format, of late, is a bit of concern for India at the top order. While, on the other hand, left-handed batsman Shikhar Dhawan has been in rich vein of form and will be expected to score heavily against Du Plessis and Co. and knowing the fact that South African pacers with the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ndigi struggle against left-handed batsmen, Dhawan will look to make the most of his first match of the 2019 World Cup.
A hungry Virat Kohli will also be raring to lead from the front and after being called “immature” by Kagiso Rabada, he will be eager to give an apt reply with the bat in his hand.
“I’ve played against Kagiso (Rabada) many times and I think we can discuss anything that needs to be discussed man-to-man (on Kagiso calling him immature). I don’t need a press conference to answer anything on what he said. Rabada is a world class bowler. He has the kind of skill set to go through any batting order on his day.”
Well, whatever you say in Press Conference, we all know how eager are you to give it back to him with a plethora of beautiful cover drives and elegant flicks.
Perhaps, the biggest positive ahead of the first match against South Africa is certainly KL Rahul’s good run of form. And, after scoring a stellar century against Bangladesh in the warm-up game, KL Rahul has surely cemented the number four position in India’s batting line up. Former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni also struck a top-notch 78-ball 113 run knock, including eight fours and seven sixes in the same match which will also boost his confidence as team India are raring to hunt in the much-awaited affair against a depleted South Africa on Wednesday.
Given the overcast conditions and high-scoring pitch at Southampton, one of the most important players for India will be Hardik Pandya. Not only the Indian all-rounder is in outstanding form, but Hardik also sits at number three position when it comes to the highest strike rates post World Cup2015. The Indian all-rounder has scored as many as 731 runs in 29 matches at a strike rate of 116.
England green pitches might tempt India to go with three seamers but South Africa’s inability to play against spin means that both the spinners would look to exploit their craft in what will be their first ever World Cup match.
Also Check:-
- Virat Kohli Calls World Cup 2019 as Most Challenging
- India vs South Africa Dream 11 Match Prediction
- ICC World Cup 2019 | India’s All Time World Cup 11
