Agencies
Mumbai, Oct 24: ‘Mushkil hai, Maaza aayega’ has been the tag line of the ongoing India-South Africa ODI series. Well there couldn’t have been more maaza for the Mumbai crowd with the ODI series tied 2-2 and everything at stake when the final match of the five-game series will be played at the Wankhede Stadium here Sunday. There is every possibility of it turning into a ‘Scintillating Sunday’ if India win or a ‘Sad Sunday’ if the visitors bag the ODI series also after comprehensively winning the T20 games.
After winning the fourth ODI at Chennai, the hosts will definitely start on a high, more so with the Wankhede pitch expected to help the spinners. Also the dew factor is not expected to play as important a role for the side bowling second as it had done in the northern parts of the country.
Keeping in mind the way, the Indian bowlers have twice defended targets and that South Africa will be once more without JP Duminy and in all probability Morne Morkel – the hosts definitely start odds on favourites. Spinners Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra and Axar Patel have delivered the goods and Bhuvneswar Kumar’s re-emergence as a death bowler has been of immense help for India in a series which South Africa had looked to dominate after winning the first ODI. Not anymore now, the Proteas start underdogs here.
What has compounded problems for the visitors are the batting forms of Hashim Amla and David Miller. They are two vital-cogs in the Proteas batting line-up, but have failed to fire. As long as Duminy was there it did not really matter, but now in the absence of the talented left-hander, the batting looks a bit brittle after AB de Villiers.
On the other hand, the Indians have recovered their poise to a certain extent with both Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina returning to form. Now India have plenty of options in the middle and except for Sikhar Dhawan up the order, the Indian batting does look solid.
South Africa may opt for an extra pacer in the form Kyle Abbot replacing spinner Aaron Phangiso and Dean Elgar coming in place of the out-of-form Miller. With Elgar being a handy spinner also, the visitors will definitely consider that option. But overall, the team support staff is working round the clock to get Morkel fit, knowing that his presence really matters. India however, are expected to retain the same XI who won at Chennai.
What India need to worry about is their death batting. In Chennai, in the third powerplay India managed only 69 runs in 10 overs and in the last five less than 30. This is one aspect that they will again have to revisit and do something to prevent a decrease in run rate. It distinctly looked a 320-plus score when Kohli and Raina were batting in Chennai, but India could only manage 299. If this mistake is repeated again, the visitors will definitely take advantage.
Overall, it is not at easy situation for either De Villiers or Dhoni to be in. Both will face criticism in their respective countries if they fail to win the ODI series. As they say, the buck does really stop here.
