For the umpteenth time during this World Cup, the focus and attention throughout an Australian training session was on one vital player. After Glenn Maxwell a few days ago in Ahmedabad and Marcus Stoinis earlier in the tournament, all eyes at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday (November 6) were on Steve Smith.
The Australian vice-captain had attended a press conference earlier, where he’d looked a bit out of sorts, even if he did manage to get through all the questions posed to him. It was when he was asked about looking like he was in discomfort that he revealed to have been suffering from vertigo over the last two days. From that point on, every movement he made during training was looked at through very close lens with every pair of binoculars at the ground trained on him. Ironically, Smith spent an hour or so batting away as usual, not showing any signs of the vertigo, hitting sixes and also at one point running up and down the steps of the Wankhede home dressing-room to fetch some extra gloves.
It’s only when Smith stepped back in for a net thereafter did you see him suddenly begin to feel a tad unwell. He left the net, stood around with his head bent downwards before taking a seat behind the net, and then eventually lying down on the grass with his eyes closed. He stayed there for 10 or so minutes before lifting himself and leaving the field. He hung around the dressing-room for a further 10 or so minutes, sitting with his head thrown back before exiting Wankhede, with some question marks still over if he’ll be good enough to take the field on Tuesday.
The focus and attention were zeroed in on one vital person when Afghanistan were training as well. But this had nothing to do with injury or illness. It was instead all about Sachin Tendulkar’s arrival at his home-ground, where his statue was inaugurated only days ago, to have a chat with the Afghanistan players. For the next hour or so, it was Tendulkar, whose movements were being monitored through the binoculars as he went from holding court for the entire team to then having one-on-one chats with Rashid Khan, Hashmatullah Shahidi and the other players. There was also time for a lot of selfies, as every member of the Afghanistan camp jumped at the opportunity of getting clicked with the Indian legend.
While Smith and Tendulkar captured most of the attention during the two teams’ practice sessions on the eve of the match, there was also an added intensity to training in both camps in the lead-up to what is a crucial contest for both. A win for Australia will confirm a place in the semifinals for the five-time champions. An Afghanistan victory though will not only keep them in contention, but it’ll also throw open the table, with the pressure then shifting squarely on New Zealand and Pakistan in their respective last matches.
The two teams have had rather contrasting campaigns to this point. Australia have recovered from an early stutter to win five on the trot, all but one of them rather convincingly too. Afghanistan have been the form team though with the best part about their performances being how professional and cerebral they have been with bat and ball. It’s meant that for once, it’s their cricket and not their back stories that have dominated all talk around their impressive display so far. And after having run close the Aussies close in Adelaide during their T20 World Cup clash last year, they’ll back themselves to do the same here, maybe even get over the line against them.
When: Australia v Afghanistan, November 7, 14.00 hrs Local time
Where: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
What to expect: It’s still hot and humid in Mumbai and the pitch has the reddish tinge that it always does at the Wankhede. But while the pitches used for training did seem to have a lot of turn in them, the surfaces used for the matches so far have been very much in favour of the batters. Except when the Indian fast bowlers have had the ball in their hand. The Aussies will take a lot of confidence from the movement that Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami had generated during their demolition of Sri Lanka though.
Team Watch
Australia
Just when you thought, Australia will finally have access to their best XI, Smith’s vertigo issue could well through a spanner in the works, even though it’ll be a case you’d think of how he feels on the morning of the match before any call gets taken. Glenn Maxwell had two hits in the nets for a change and was seen being involved in a lengthy fielding session. Mitchell Marsh has returned to India as well after the unfortunate passing of his grandfather.
Tactics & Strategy:
Like they have in their last few games, Australia look at their best when they are batting first and posting big scores. And that’ll be the focus here too, despite the spin threat that Afghanistan do possess. The movement on offer under lights will play a big role too even if Adam Zampa has been their star bowler throughout the tournament.
Probable XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith/Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Afghanistan
Afghanistan are likely to stick to their spin-heavy attack despite what the conditions might offer them. No wonder Shahidi kept wishing for the pitch to turn with a very disarming smile on his face.
Tactics & Strategy:
The Afghanistan captain was also very reluctant to disclose any tactic or strategy even if the question posed to him, twice, was about how he thought he’d use his spinners against the Aussie power hitters. He did talk about having four options to take the new-ball, including Mujeeb-ur-Rahman who has been a key so far in the powerplay, which is Afghanistan’s best chance to make an early impact on the Aussies.
Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad
Did you know?
– Afghanistan have had had eight 50+ stands in their last three outings.
– Adam Zampa has 16 middle-overs wickets in this World Cup. No other bowler has more than 12
– David Warner is one hundred short of Rohit Sharma’s record tally of seven World Cup tons.
What they said:
“In such a short time, we achieved a lot compared to other countries. And right now, we know the whole world is talking about our team’s performance. As a team also, we are happy for that. But I think as a captain, it’s not enough for me, looking forward for the other games. Tomorrow is one of the important games for us. And we will not relax until we sit back and plan and go back to country, until that we will fight as a team. We are here to fight and we will try our best.” – Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan captain
