A clash between the favourites and the unfancied can often end up being one-sided. But the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2016 has proved to be a stage for the underdogs. Nepal have defeated New Zealand, Namibia got the better of South Africa and Afghanistan nearly overcame Sri Lanka in the group stages.
India will start out as favourites but in a tournament riddled with uncertainty, Namibia will fancy their chances. Having already surpassed all expectations, it could be a 'nothing to lose' fixture for them while India, in pursuit of their fourth World Cup title at the Under-19 level, will play with massive expectations.
On Saturday (February 5), India and Namibia will move away from the sole venue they've played in so far - Mirpur and Cox's Bazar respectively - to clash in the second quarterfinal of the tournament in Fatullah.
India
Even at the youth level, India have walked into the tournament with a lot of hopes pinned on them. Rahul Dravid's role as a coach provides an even better narrative for Ishan Kishan's boys to go on clinch title for India. To its credit, the team has been commendably clinical. Despite sealing their knockout berth after two wins, the three-time champions (2000, 2008 and 2012) did not let complacency creep in and put on their most dominant performance against Nepal, where they solved their nagging problem at the top of the batting order.
Their all-round effort against Nepal showed that India were in no mood to take any opponent lightly and with a semifinal spot at stake, Namibia should expect a massive challenge.
"We have not seen Namibia play but they must obviously be doing well to get to this stage. The idea is to stick to the basics and focus on our plans," Kishan said on the eve of their fixture.
The Fatullah track has assisted the spinners very well, as evidenced by Sandeep Lamichhane's hat-trick and fifer for Nepal against Ireland.
Namibia
If India have looked like a well-oiled machine, Namibia have rode on the lack of expectation and the unmissable team spirit. Their opening victory over Scotland, where both bowlers and the top-three batsmen chipped in with equal contributions, gave them the push that helped them overcome defending champions South Africa to script a fairy tale and advance to the knockouts.
"Our strength has been our team spirit. We play great as a team. I am very happy with the performance so far but playing India will obviously be a new experience," Zane Green said on Friday.
Team spirit aside, Green will also hope to rattle the Indian batsmen with his seamers, who've done exceptionally well in the tournament so far. The first two fixtures exposed Kishan's weakness against early seam and swing, one that the pace duo of Fritz Coetzee and Warren van Wyk could exploit early. Michael van Lingen bowled an inspired spell (4 for 24) of medium pace to wreak havoc against South Africa and will be itching to have a go at India too.
If they can get the better of Sarfaraz Khan, India's top-scorer thus far, the middle-order, largely untested in this tournament, will have a task at their hands. Washington Sundar and Armaan Jaffer, two of the promising faces in the batting order, are yet to spend enough time at the wicket and play a big knock. If Namibia can deny them that, they could be in with a chance to upset India.
Green admitted that they watched India on TV and that they were a great side but a closer assessment of their opposition would've given them some headstart ahead of what will be a grueling task.
Squads (From):
India: Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Sarfaraz Khan, Amandeep Khare, Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui, Mayank Dagar, Zeeshan Ansari, Mahipal Lomror, Avesh Khan, Shubham Mavi, Khaleel Ahmed, Rahul Batham, Armaan Jaffer
Namibia: Zane Green, Petrus Burger, Motjaritje Honga, Fritz Coetzee, SJ Loftie-Eaton, Chrischen Olivier, Michael van Lingen, Warren van Wyk, Charl Brits, Niko Davin, Burton Jacobs, Jurgen Linde, Lohan Louwrens, Francois Rautenbach, Eben van Wyk
No comments:
Post a Comment