How The Cricket World Cup Has Turned Into India’s To Lose

When Pakistan played India three weeks ago in the interminable event that is the Cricket World Cup, expectations of a great clash between the two old rivals were high. Ultimately, the men in blue won without breaking sweat. Just like they have for the last month.

“It didn’t seem like an ICC event to be brutally honest. It seemed like a bilateral series; it seemed like a BCCI event,” claimed Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur after the seven-wicket loss. Wasim Akram and others were quick to suggest that Arthur was trying to divert attention from his players’ failings.

Arthur did admit his charges were guilty of a a “timid” performance which showed a mental weakness in the face of a fervent crowd. India have been riding the wave of huge support. This provides the ballast and a whole Chicago chorus of noise while the team executes the bat and ball skills to perfection. Home spectators dominate the stadiums and the eleven on the field are swarming all over their opponents. It’s a seriously powerful combination for a nation that lives, breathes, eats, and loves cricket.

India have won all eight of their group matches so far and will surely make that nine against the Netherlands, who are battling with Bangladesh and England at the bottom of the table for that precious Champions Trophy place. On Sunday, the hosts met another other in-form team, South Africa in a match that really should have been a joust for pre-knockout supremacy. Both sides were guaranteed a place at the top table in the semi-finals before the game began at Eden Park. Were South Africa beaten before the coin toss?

“To be honest, I’m nervous, but I think everyone will have a bit of nerves…It’s going to be loud and the crowd is going to be buzzing,” said Proteas all-rounder Marco Jansen on the eve of the game. If this was an insight into an edginess in a previously super-confident side, then the full evidence was provided by their batting display chasing a challenging but not impossible 326. The highest score in a total of 83 was the 14 by Jansen himself.

When batting first, South Africa are in their element, but there has been a question mark about their temperament in chasing. This was evident in their squeaky bum time one-wicket win over Pakistan. While Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and, more recently, Shreyas Iyer, are piling on the runs, the home team does not have a serious weak point in their bowling unit.

It’s a strangulation that England suffered from when well placed. Even if teams restrict India to a sub-par score, as Jos Buttler’s team did, they then have to get the runs against three of the best bowlers in the tournament. Mohammed Shami has 18 wickets, Ravi Jadeja has 19 after claiming a five-fer on Sunday, and Jasprit Bumrah has 15 while remaining almost unhittable. Mohammed Siraj is hardly a weak link with ten and Kuldeep Yadav’s left-arm wrist spin has claimed 12. He went for a mere seven runs off five overs at Kolkata.

India have already blitzed Australia, the third semi-finalists, by seven wickets. However, they did have a scare by losing their top order to Pat Cummins’ team in their first match a month ago. After the astonishing win over Afghanistan that guaranteed a place in the last four, Cummins said: “It’s important. Not only from our team, thinking you can win from anywhere, but opposition look at that as well,” the Baggy Green skipper said.

India appears like a team at ease with the scrutiny of domestic pressure on its doorstep. When England claimed the last World Cup on their home soil as favorites, they lost three group games and had to beat the Kiwis and Kohli’s team to make the semis. India’s supremacy has been overwhelming. The partisan aspect is certainly contributing to extra stress on the opposition.

The only question that remains is the one that has haunted them since their last ICC trophy back in 2013. Can the side deliver when everything is on the line? That is the hope and the pressure that their opponents in both the semi-final and any subsequent final will have to try and exploit. Indian fans can turn quickly when the wheels fall off.