New Delhi, February 11 Abhishek Sharma's stomach infection poses a greater threat to India head coach Gautam Gambhir's plans than Namibia, who are not expected to cause much trouble for the dominant defending champions in their second group A game of the T20 World Cup here on Thursday.
After a lackluster batting performance on a difficult Wankhede track in the opener against the USA, the Indian batting lineup would like to unleash their full potential on a Feroz Shah Kotla track that could be considered ideal for quality teams.
And when it comes to quality, the defending champions are far ahead of Namibia, who 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 lineup a chance to perform well.
The difference in quality is such that Namibia's bowling lineup could be used by any of the top 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 is a key advantage for the opposition.
The Namibia match could be a golden opportunity for Sanju Samson to regain his form after a series of failures that led to him losing his place to Ishan Kishan, who is currently in excellent form.
"Sanju is feeling better again, and he understands his role in the team now," said assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate at the pre-match press conference.
"He is a solid player, he gets along well with the team, and he is training well, which is what we expect from everyone."
For Namibia to stop a 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 or more, while none of the others in the top five have crossed the acceptable strike rate figure.
Facing Chakravarthy could be a major challenge for the Namibian team, as they rarely face bowlers of such caliber.
"He has been working on a few new deliveries that you will see being used in various stages," Ten Doeschate hinted that the Namibia match could be a platform for testing.
The scheduling team of the ICC, along with the broadcasters, who rightly have the final say, have ensured that save the commercial-driven match against Pakistan, the rest of the league stage matches will be against teams that even India A, B, or C teams would defeat in this format.
A third-string India A team had dismissed Namibia for less than 100 in a warm-up match before the tournament.
Even if the match against Pakistan goes against India, they will eventually make it to the Super Eight, where the real challenge begins.
Even there, the grouping ensures that India will not face Australia or South Africa if they reach the semi-final.
When it comes to scheduling, choice of venues, match timings, and groupings, the commercial considerations have ensured that until the semi-final, it will be an easy win for the Indian team.
If they reach the second-last day, it will be all about luck and determination. For now, it is Namibia's turn to face defeat.
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.