India aim to keep clean slate

The first stage of India’s campaign that began at the Adelaide Oval with a game against Pakistan will end here at the Eden Park on Saturday.

From the perspective of going forward into the tournament, the Group B match against Zimbabwe is as insignificant as they get. Irrespective of the outcome of the match, India will remain on top of their pool having won an unassailable five matches while Zimbabwe will head back home having already fallen out of the race for a place in the knockouts.
The only point of interest would be to see if India qualify for the quarters with an all win record. And given India’s form, the chances of them not doing so are pretty low.

India’s performance so far has been commanding, demolishing each of their opponents with ruthless precision. The only time they looked a bit shaky was against the West Indies on what has been one of the very few tougher surfaces that this tournament has thrown up. After qualifying for the knockouts even before they set their feet in New Zealand, there were chances of India erring on the side of caution given the nature of their opposition. Ireland was first up but there was no let-up in their intensity as they hammered the minnows by eight wickets.

“Every game pushes you to do something special, and I felt we did really well on the field,” Dhoni had said after the Ireland game. “Same way, the next game will be the last before we get into the knockout stages, so we'll keep improving every game, and that's our motive so that we can maintain the forward shift that we have got.”

There also would have been a temptation to rest some of the regulars and try out the bench but MS Dhoni has been totally averse to changing the winning combination. The lengthy gaps between matches and staggered training schedules, too, have allowed the players to have enough rest to remain fresh. 

“We need the physio's input in this matter,” Dhoni had said when asked if he thought of resting some players. “If the physio feels any player is in danger of breaking down, we will rest him in that situation. Otherwise, if everyone is fit and available for selection, we'll field the best eleven. Because there are already long breaks between matches and that much rest should be adequate. If there is no risk of injury we will continue to field our best eleven,” he had offered.

There is a case for leaving out Ravindra Jadeja, who has done precious little with the bat while just about managing an average job with the ball. Dhoni, in a rare public rebuke of the player, had called upon the all-rounder to pull up his socks. He even went to the extent of saying that one can’t keep on going merely on the hope. But then again, Dhoni likes to have that extra batting cushion that Jadeja provides when he gets going. Stuart Binny can provide that batting option that Dhoni is looking for in the lower middle-order but Jadeja would be more useful with his left-arm spin on the Australian pitches where India would be playing their next set of matches.

India may have to confront a more determined Zimbabwe who not only have nothing to lose but will want the occasion to be a special one for Brendan Taylor who, for all practical purposes, will be playing his last match for his country after signing a Kolpak deal with English county Nottinghamshire. Zimbabwe have the wherewithal to beat any top side on their day, as they showed in their warm-up match against Sri Lanka when they chased down a 300-plus target, but they lack the big-match temperament and that eventually boils down to lack of experience. While Zimbabwe will look to make this experience count, rest assured that India will not be offering them any freebies.