BackWorld Cup: India aim to beat West Indies, clinch quarterfinal spot
Will they face a Caribbean team which lost to Ireland or the one which won against Pakistan and Zimbabwe?
Premium(Greg Wood/AFP)
Perth: Defending champion India can clinch a quarterfinal place at the Cricket World Cup on Friday with a win over a West Indies lineup that is having the kind of run that poses as many questions as it answers when the team steps onto the field.
India, which had to deal with some controversy this week over a reported incident involving test captain Virat Kohli and a journalist during training in Perth, will be wondering which version of the West Indies squad will show up at the WACA.
Will it be the one which lost by four wickets to second-tier Ireland, or the one which rebounded to beat 1992 champion Pakistan by 150 runs and Zimbabwe by 73 runs, or the one that lost by a whopping 257 runs to South Africa in its last match when it was bowled out for 151 runs in the 34th over?
Asked after the South Africa match if that large losing margin left his squad “on the back foot" heading into its key match against India, West Indies captain Jason Holder seemed unconcerned.
“We’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to play our normal style of cricket," Holder said. “We obviously have areas to improve on in terms of our (late-overs) bowling and still ... I think once we do that, we’re still a force to be reckoned with in this competition. Today was just the first off-day with the bat."
India, meanwhile, has had nearly a week off in Perth, the capital of Western Australia state. Its last match and third consecutive win of the tournament came last Saturday at the WACA when the players hardly had to work up a sweat, dismissing the United Arab Emirates for 102 in 31.3 overs before hauling in that total in 18.5 overs to win by nine wickets.
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