While the whole world was gunning for the heads of Indian cricketers for their deplorable performance leading up to the World Cup, things have taken a turn for the better for the Men in Blue.
In a tournament where India's recent performance left little hope of making it to the last four, let alone the final, the team has turned the tides in their favour. Constructive criticism has become a thing of the past and credit should be given where it is due.
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Before the Pakistan humdinger, India were down for the count but not only did MS Dhoni's boys got back on their feet but did it in style. The defending champions turned up with a purpose to win and proved a point while the other team, well, never really showed up. The tactical mistakes followed by some poor efforts in the field dosn't help your cause and Pakistan did all the things you can ill-afford in a big match.
India, on the other hand, did just about everything right, which will only go on to boost their confidence in the match against South Africa. But the African lions will not fall prey to the influence of spin alone and India should not resort to acting the goat and become complacent.
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South Africa may be busy guarding against hiccups and the chokes that follow, but they have never lost to India in last three World Cup meetings. In that case, India have every reason to not be gung-ho about beating Pakistan and stay focused on the next job at hand.
Here is a list of five things that India should be well rehearsed in to get the monkey off their back.
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Bowling needs to be extra special
India's bowling surprised everyone who had followed them over the last three months Down Under. But while it showed improvement that gladdened every Indian heart, the unit will be put to test against South Africa. The new ball needs to be used in trying to pick up wickets and not stem the flow of runs, given the strength and depth of Proteas batting. If Dhoni resorts to containing tactics, it might force his team to play catch up .
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Grab the half-chances
Although India's fielding was quite sharp in the opener against Pakistan, they will help themselves to understand that the margin of error against a side like South Africa is bare minimum and half-chances missed can go on to haunt them. On that note, the subcontinent giants need to cash in on the opportunities that might be few and far in between. A missed run-out and a couple of misfieldings in the Pakistan game were only overlooked due to the margin of victory against their arch-rivals, things the defending champions will do good to avoid.
Losing wickets in cluster: It was a major concern in the last World Cup as India lost their match against South Africa due to their sudden batting collapse. From a position of dominance at 267 for 1, India slummed to 296 all out, which cost them the match in the end. India can't afford to make the same mistake as the match against Pakistan was pretty much a carbon copy of an old malaise of losing wickets in cluster at death, which still seems to be an inseparable problem plaguing Indian batting overseas.
Keeping wickets in hand: It is difficult to predict which Indian batting will turn up on that day but given the conditions and the brand new white ball from both ends, India will do themselves a favour in seeing it off, especially when you have the likes of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Mokel waiting to pounce on you like a pack of wolves. India did that well against Pakistan and gave their bowlers something to bowl at and it will only be wise to follow the same path.
Captaincy: Runs on the board and strangling the opposition with spinners has been Mahendra Singh Dhoni's forte as a captain. While South Africans are not the best players against spin, it will still be a monumental task for the Indian spinners to fox the Proteas batting on a regular basis considering, other than R Ashwin, the team does not have the quality spinners they once closed their eyes and relied on.
MCG over the years has not been a happy hunting ground for the finger spinners, a fact that the great Erapalli Prasanna and Shivlal Yadav would vouch for. R Ashwin will be aware of that fact and Ravindra Jadeja, who is more likely to make the team ahead of young Axar Patel, is more of a container than a wicket-taker. Dhoni's role in chopping and changing the bowling options and keeping an attacking option open all the time will be a challenge and that is where his captaincy will be put to
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