This is the second match of the double header on Super Saturday at the ICC World Cup 2015. While we certainly don’t expect this match between India and the UAE to be as competitive or close as the one that takes place earlier, between Australia and New Zealand, any match that the Indian cricket team is involved in is certainly one to watch.
We don’t really know much about India’s opponents, UAE, but we are not ashamed of it, as nobody really has seen them play in a big competition and no one really knows anything much about their players. In all likelihood, UAE cricketers are no better than the multitudes playing club cricket in any of India’s cities or towns.
That a team with virtual nobodies gets to play a team of Rock Stars such as India is a testament to the greatness of the cricket World Cup. UAE have nothing to lose and everything to gain, while India have to perform really well and are expected to pummel their opponents.
While the Indian batting line-up is more than up to the task and we expect the likes of Rohit Sharma to relish playing the timid UAE bowling. Indeed, this match is tailor made for another Rohit Sharma double hundred – he always does well against poor bowling attacks such as UAE, Bangladesh, West Indies and Sri Lanka, only to fail against the likes of Australia, England and South Africa with a semblance of quality.
The problem with India is the bowling – and the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Stuart Binny are as ordinary or have as much pace any of the bowlers in the UAE side. They represent a very poor job done by the Indian selectors, but we shouldn’t be too surprised because Stuart Binny’s father, Roger Binny is a member of the selection committee!
UAE did well only to lose to the other minnows, Ireland and Zimbabwe, and we expect them to go through the World Cup without picking up even a single win. India have done superbly so far to win against Pakistan and South Africa and we expect this run of form to continue.
For India, Mohammad Shami misses out due to a knee injury and will be replaced by the distinctly average Stuart Binny.
Teams news
India: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ajinkya Rahane, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Stuart Binny/Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Umesh Yadav
UAE: 1 Amjad Ali, 2 Andri Berenger, 3 Krishna Chandran, 4 Khurram Khan, 5 Swapnil Patil (wk), 6 Shaiman Anwar, 7 Rohan Mustafa, 8 Mohammad Naveed, 9 Amjad Javed, 10 Mohammad Tauqir (capt), 11 Manjula Guruge
Match Conditions
We expect the WACA pitch at Perth to have lots of pace and bounce, as you might expect. The weather is expected to be perfect, with no rains forecast.
Watch the match live on Star Sports from 12:00 AM this Saturday!
