India – The American Slogger

How This Works!

This post is set to go before each match. I briefly breakdown the batting and bowling attack of each squad and how they relate to each other before selecting who I think is going to win. Because cricket can be won by a number of wickets (if you’re chasing) or runs (if you’re defending), I’m simply going to select who I think is going to win outright, not in the manner, or by how many runs, they’re going to win by. Makes sense? (Quickly moves on before acknowledging any questions) Great! Let’s get started!

Bowling:

India Bowlers/All Rounders: Yuzendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Vijay Shankar, Kedar Jadhav

South Africa Bowlers/All Rounders: ~~Lungi Ngidi~~, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phelukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imran Tahir, JP Duminy

ICC Ranking Average: (Measured by taking the top 5 bowlers in ICC’s player ratings. Those 5 rankings are then averaged out. The lower the number, the better. If a player is marked out, Dale Steyn in this case, they are not included in the ranking, as they are not effecting the match.)

India

Jasprit Bumrah: 1st
Kuldeep Yadav: 7th
Yuzendra Chahal: 8th
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: 17th
Ravindra Jadeja: 32nd
Avg: 13th

South Africa

Imran Tahir: 4th
Kagiso Rabada: 5th
Andile Phelukwayo: 20th
Dwaine Pretorius: 52nd
Tabraiz Shamsi: 74th
Avg: 31st

Breakdown: Losing both Dale Steyn (for the tournament) and Lungi Ngidi (for the next few matches at least) is devastating for the Proteas. Tack on the fact that they’re already two matches in, while India are coming in fresh and gearing to go. India, meanwhile, is stacked, while, in other news, water is clear.

Advantage: India. Injuries are key here. Tahir and Rabada are both world beaters, but India is simply too deep. Also, South Africa got rocked by Bangladesh, which, yea, doesn’t bode well here.

Batters:

India Batters/All Rounders: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Vijay Shankar, Kedar Jadhav

South Africa Batters/All Rounders: Faf Du Plessis ©, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (WK), Aiden Markram, David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen, Beauran Hendricks, JP Duminy

ICC Ranking Average: (See rules for bowlers above and replace that with batters. You got it!)

India

Virat Kohli: 1st
Rohit Sharma: 2nd
Shikhar Dhawan: 14th
MS Dhoni: 24th
Kedar Jadhav: 28th
Avg: 13

South Africa

Quinton de Kock: 4th
Faf du Plessis: 6th
David Miller: 33rd
Rassie van der Dussen: 50th
JP Duminy: 64th
Avg: 31st

Breakdown: Tough to go against India here. Kohli is the best in the world. Sharma is coming off a championship run in the IPL. I can keep going…no? South Africa stumbled against England and found somewhat of a stride against Bangladesh, even if they came up short.

Advantage: India.

A final bold and likely dumb take:

Is Kohli hitting a century to start the tournament a dumb take or an obvious one? Is he actually more likely to hit one than not? Asking for a friend here… Okay, let’s go the other way and say Kohli struggles out the gate, continuing his IPL form. Kohli scores under 35 runs this match.

Final Prediction: South Africa.

Wait what!?!? Okay hear me out here. South Africa is better than they’ve been playing. India, for some incredibly dumb reason, is playing it’s first match one week into the tournament. The emotion, the rush of that first match catches up to India here. South Africa get’s a world class performance from their captain, to go along with a dominating performance from Kagiso Rabada. South Africa with the upset here.

ICC Ranking: 2nd

If “stacked” isn’t the first thing on your mind when you see this roster, I have some questions.

Batters: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK)

Bowlers: Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Yuzendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami

All Rounders: Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja

Don’t Sleep On:

–Yuzendra Chahal: The spinner is known for surprising bursts of wickets when he’s on. Look for him to thrive in the middle overs and grab an important wicket to break up a dominant partnership.

–KL Rahul: Seemingly back from his uncharacteristically slow start in the IPL, Rahul will look to translate that T20 success to the ODI format, where his experience is relatively limited. Don’t be shocked if he cracks a 50 or two during the tournament.

–Kuldeep Yadav: The left-handed wrist spinner, still seems weird to say, will likely be a spark plug for India this tournament. Making his first World Cup appearance, Kuldeep has huge potential and can take a game over seemingly out of nowhere, just ask England!

Needed to Make a Run:

–Hardik Pandya: The all-rounder from Gujarat is proving this year in the IPL that the hype and potential surrounding his career is warranted. His quick-strike ability both with the bat and ball are sure to get India out of potential unfavorable situations.

–Jasprit Bumrah: ICC’s number one ranked ODI bowler in the world, Bumrah is coming into the World Cup in elite form. India doesn’t have the tournament of their dreams without Bumrah being one of, if not the top wicket-takers.

Key to the Cup:

-Virat Kohli: The best player in the world on arguably the best team in the world. There will be times this tournament where Kohli has to lead from the front, so don’t be shocked when he wins a match by himself with a classic Kohli chase.

Why Should I Watch?

Do you enjoy a stacked batting lineup? Great, you’ll love this team. Do you enjoy a loaded bowling rotation? This team has that, too! India is the most famous team in cricket and you won’t want to miss them do their thing on the biggest stage.

How Fun is This Team? (9/10)

It’s India. Year after year they’re the best team on paper. With guys like Kohli, Dhoni, and Sharma, the batting power goes seemingly never ends. If you like cricket, and if you’re reading this that’s probably the case, you’re going to enjoy watching this team play. On top of that, Hardik Pandya brings an extra flair to the scene that will liven up any match.

Best Case:

With India, it’s a trophy or bust in every major tournament they enter. This World Cup is no different. Expectations say it’s time for another World Cup and I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that a team with Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Bhuvi Kumar, and Jasprit Bumrah are more than capable of winning one.

Worst Case:

The weight of those expectations hold down this team that’s seemingly stacked at every position. A semi-finals or, even worse, finals loss to Pakistan is the absolute worst case scenario for this tournament. I think a diehard Indian fan would rather not even make the semi-finals than have that outcome.

Prediction:

With a lineup as deep and talented as India, it’s hard to see them slipping up enough this tournament to not earn a trip to the semifinals. Once there, it’s anything goes. That being said, if I could pick any team to win one match, on any given day, it’s very hard to pick against this India side.

Tag: India

Match #8: India v South Africa Prediction.