MELBOURNE: The batting area at MCG is one of a kind: open to the public and visible from the street, it is a deep arena accessible from a level below ground level.
Once the players have entered the field, they will be placed inside. And if that team is India, you can bet the cricketers will be surrounded by hundreds of screaming fans jostling for attention and glimpses of their favorite stars.
A few dozen more journalists, youtubers and cricket enthusiasts join the mix and the practice is suddenly elevated to performance art. Every move is scrutinized. Every failed shot was greeted with howls. Inside the MCG grid, there is nowhere to hide.
Saturday by chance Virat Kohli’s birthday and the youth community in Melbourne flocked to visit him. Some people carry lunch boxes, fully prepared for a long vigil. When Virat defeated, chants of ‘Happy Birthday dear Virat’ rang out continuously, to shouts and cheers and some enthusiastic applause. Kohli admitted fans once or twice raised their hands or glanced at a particularly vocal group, but there were simply too many of them. Instead, Virat did what he rarely does on the net: from time to time, he would compel the popular “we want sixer” crowd with a particularly terrifying shot, much to the delight of everyone.
Virat, after cutting the cake in the morning with members of his team, and cutting the second with the media staff later on the ground, will know the icing awaits all around: India needs a war. beat Zimbabwe here on Sunday to advance to the semi-final-final, and Rohit Sharma and Co. will hope Kohli’s love affair at the MCG continues.
Drifting and scoring also means India moves forward, but it’s best to avoid messy equations.
The match against Pakistan is here, India’s star hitter has fired all his guns blazing, playing a special knock to announce his intentions in this match World Cup. It would be a pity if the best and most famous cricketer of the tournament did not make it to the final at the MCG on 13 November.
It is, however, jumping the gun. For now, the Zimbabwe barrier needs to be overcome. Under normal circumstances, beating Zimbabwe is not such an unpleasant task, but this is T20, the highest stakes as the World Cup nears its end and Zimbabwe has built up a reputation for upsetting cars. apples in this tournament. Having once escaped from prison against Bangladesh, India will want to be ruthless here.
When asked what approach India had in mind for this potential encounter with banana peels, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said, “Simple. We need to be clinical, the more clinical the better. We know no team that is self-motivated. You still have to go in there, tackle the batman early and still keep the ball well to be able to put pressure on.
“It is a must-win contest. Good teams will be clinical and will put pressure on such days. Zimbabwe has played some great cricket matches, so we can’t go there and expect them to crash.”
To boost the beat on MCG pacy, will India tinker with combinations again and give Deepak Hooda a game? That was the only piece of the puzzle left as India hit the reset button here ahead of the bigger challenges in the knockout stages.
Zimbabwe caused a huge disappointment, beating Pakistan and narrowly beating Bangladesh before inexplicably losing to the Netherlands to ruin their own chances. “We were pretty flimsy with our batting throughout this tournament,” their coach Dave Houghton said after the loss to the Netherlands. “It was the game of bowling and our fighting ability that kept us.”
Captain Craig Ervine admit Sikander Raza will have to score a lion’s share in the runs. “It’s a quick turnaround in this league. The loss to Bangladesh was very disappointing, coming very close. . . You can sit back and think, maybe we weren’t meant to win that game,” Ervine said.
From enjoying hitting the ball in Australia to sharing a team vision with the #TeamIndia captain @ ImRo45 🙌 Catching up… https://t.co/WaRBnDCTxA
– BCCI (@BCCI) 1667626078000
“Sikandar Raza has been exceptional and we will need such performances against India. Winning against Pakistan has given us confidence that we can beat any team in this tournament.”
Of course, you’ll also get a chance to buy Virat Kohli’s stick! “How often do you get the chance to put Virat Kohli in your pocket? I’m pretty sure our fast bowlers will be eager to go tomorrow. ”
