Spring within the ft: Kishan and Kuldeep undergo their paces throughout a coaching session.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
If by a miracle, all automobiles on the roads round this mega metropolis’s maidans cease in unison, drivers keep away from urgent these blaring horns, and distributors keep mum, the resultant silence will probably be punctured by the sound of one million pink cherries thudding into keen bats.
Cricket is all pervading in Mumbai and on the Wankhede Stadium with its numerous hat-tips to nice cricketers, the most recent being a Sachin Tendulkar statue, India will tackle Sri Lanka in a World Cup recreation on Thursday. The Men in Blue are on a roll. Most opposition groups have been accounted for and after the duel involving Sri Lanka, there would be the looming presence of South Africa at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens this Sunday. Much later the Netherlands will await India at Bengaluru and by then hopefully India’s semifinal rival would develop into evident.
Cut to the right here and now, Sri Lanka, the 1996 champion, and at one stage perennial finalists, has misplaced its approach. The rebuilding section after the retirements of varied stalwarts has been an prolonged journey. In the current marketing campaign, Kusal Mendis and his males notched victories over England and the Netherlands. However, losses towards South Africa, Pakistan, Australia and Afghanistan have left the neighbours from throughout the Palk Strait rowing a leaky boat on tough seas.
In the earlier two World Cup video games at this venue, the South Africans reigned supreme, batting first and profitable by good-looking margins towards England and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka wants its runs and for now solely Sadeera Samarawickrama and Pathum Nissanka have provided sustenance. Among the bowlers, left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka has been among the many wickets whereas his help forged has turned mute.
Against an upbeat host, Sri Lanka has to be at its finest, and maybe that might be the perfect tribute the boys from the Emerald Isle might supply to their biggest fan, the departed Uncle Percy, formally often called Percy Abeysekera. India, in the meantime, would press ahead and attempt to seal its seemingly pre-ordained semifinal berth. Two cups have been gained, however it’s also equally exceptional that the legacy includes seven semifinal appearances unfold throughout 1983, 1987, 1996, 2003, 2011, 2015 and 2019.
A batting phalanx with skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli displaying the best way and an equally potent assault headlined by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, have collectively proved to be a tricky barricade that rivals simply can not scale throughout. The final time India and Sri Lanka clashed in a World Cup recreation in Mumbai, it was the summer season of 2011 and the ultimate bequeathed a wondrous title to M.S. Dhoni’s males. This is a reminiscence to cherish whereas a recent path is being carved.
The groups (from):
India: Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Ok.L. Rahul (wk), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav.
Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (Capt. & wk), Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Charith Asalanka, Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Kusal Perera, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka and Dushmantha Chameera.
Umpires: Chris Brown and Paul Reiffel; Third umpire: Rodney Tucker; Match referee: Jeff Crowe.
Match begins at 2 p.m.
