New Delhi, February 11 – Abhishek Sharma's stomach infection poses a greater threat to India than their World Cup opponents, Namibia.
After a lackluster batting performance on the difficult Wankhede track in the opener against the USA, the Indian batting lineup would like to unleash their full potential on the Feroz Shah Kotla track, which could be considered ideal for quality teams.
Namibia would be the ones facing the brunt, as they are not expected to pose much trouble for the dominant defending champions in their second group A match of the T20 tournament here on Thursday.
In terms of quality, the defending champions are far ahead of the African team, which barely performed well against fellow Associate nation, the Netherlands, at this very ground.
To be fair to India, the match against Namibia is more of a preparatory game where they would like to bat first and give the team a chance to perform well.
The quality difference is such that Namibia's bowling lineup could be put to the test every day by any of the strong Indian state teams competing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
For India, Abhishek's hospitalization due to a stomach infection and viral fever is a concern.
Even if he is discharged on Wednesday, it would not be advisable to put him on the field without allowing him to sufficiently recover before the crucial match against Pakistan on Sunday, where Abhishek's presence would be a significant advantage for the opposition.
The Namibia match could be a golden opportunity for Sanju Samson, who has been struggling, to get back into scoring form after a series of failures that led to his demotion.
"Sanju is feeling better again, and he understands his role in the team now as a replacement for an injured player," said assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate at the pre-match press conference.
"He is a good player, he is well-liked by the team, and he is training well, which is what we expect from everyone in the team."
For Namibia to stop a strong batting lineup like India will be a challenging task. Even more challenging for their batters will be to face Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, and Hardik Pandya in tandem.
Out of the top six, only all-rounder JJ Smit has a strike rate of 140 plus, while none of the others in the top five have crossed the acceptable strike rate figure in today's era.
Facing Chakravarthy could be a major challenge for the Namibian team, as they rarely face bowlers of this caliber.
"He has actually worked on a few new deliveries, which you will see being used in various stages," Ten Doeschate hinted that the Namibia match could be a platform for beta testing.
The scheduling team of the ICC, along with the broadcasters, who rightly have control, have ensured that, save for the commercial cash cow match against Pakistan, the rest of the league stage matches are against teams that would even lose to an India A, B, or C team in this format.
A third-string India A team had dismissed Namibia for less than 100 in a warm-up game before the tournament.
Even if the match against Pakistan goes against them, India would eventually make it to the Super Eight, where the real test begins.
Even there, the grouping ensures that India would not face Australia or South Africa if they reach the semi-finals.
In terms of scheduling, the choice of venues, match timings, and groupings, commercial considerations have ensured that until the semi-final, it will be a smooth ride for the "Men in Blue."
If they reach the second-to-last day, it will all depend on a bit of luck and determination. For now, it is Namibia's turn to face the pressure.
Teams:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd Siraj, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Rinku Singh.
Namibia: Gerhard Erasmus (captain), Jan Balt, Zane Green (wk), Malan Kruger, Dylan Leicher, Lauren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, William Myburgh, JJ Smit, Jack Brassel, Max Heingo, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo, Ruben Trumpelmann.
Match starts: 7 PM.
