It was a familiar sight at the Green Park here. The venue was being given last-minute touches to herald the decider of a series that has generated exciting cricket in patches. An Indian defeat in the opener at Mumbai spruced up the three-match series before normalcy was restored with New Zealand’s loss at Pune.
Overwhelming favourite
In subcontinent conditions, India always begins as the overwhelming favourite. It was no different this time either barring the Mumbai shocker when Tom Latham and Ross Taylor decided to take the Indian attack by its scruff.
India then fell back on seamers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah to ensure Kanpur will host a meaningful contest.
The absence of cheering fans, denied entry to cheer their heroes at practice sessions, presented a galling picture on Saturday as India and New Zealand went through the routine exercise of pre-match preparation, literally in-camera.
The overwhelming security, part of any sporting event in the country and more pronounced at cricket matches, takes the fun out of a spectator’s outing at most stadiums.
For Smriti Batham and Jagriti Shukla, two journalism students, seeing the players from a distance was not the best idea of trying to absorb the ambience of a cricket match as part of their assignment. “Is it always like this?” they wondered.
Cricketers are used to being put under the scrutiny on and off the field and perhaps prefer it that way — training without interruptions.
However, the distance between them and their passionate supporters has only increased in these times of uncertainty when the curator can’t even comment on the playing surface got up for the match.
At many venues overseas, the curator is known to provide details officially so that the message reaches the fans. More than looking to disclosing the nature of the pitch, it is the monotony of predictable results that should present the administrators with the humongous challenge of attracting fans to an ODI.
With the series 1-1, the first-ever day-night ODI here retains a competitive flavour. It is a decider.
And that makes the contest worthwhile in times when every match, we are told, is a learning process. You win and learn. You lose and learn better.
New Zealand is not the most glamorous team in the world. That honour possibly belongs to India which has a few stars and a super star in Virat Kohli. He can do nothing wrong, as captain, and as a batsman.
On the other hand, New Zealand is a collection of players who know their limitations and play within themselves, never inflicting self-embarrassment by overestimating the talent at its disposal.
The subcontinent has always confronted visiting teams with problems galore.
Slow pitches and excruciating heat can be lethal impediments apart from India’s near invincible reputation at home. Would the trend change this time?
The teams (from):
India: Virat Kohli (capt.), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, M.S. Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt.), Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee and George Worker.
Play starts at 1.30 p.m.