All eyes are on India, as they take on South Africa this Sunday in the ICC World Cup. Both teams won their inaugural match, but the match at Melbourne Cricket Ground between two favourites of the competition is going to be a grand affair, where both sides would try to outdo one another.
The South Africans have come into the tournament in a rich vein of form, unlike the Indians, who struggled against Australia in the Test as well as the tri-series. However, their good performance against Pakistan have not gone unnoticed.
The Indian team put up a splendid performance against their immediate neighbours, Pakistan, where Virat Kohli was the hero of the day with a century against his name. Such has been the form of the player in the recent past that bowlers around the world have started to fear him.
But South African coach, Russell Domingo not only rates the Delhi batsman highly but also other batsmen of the team.
"We all know that Virat Kohli has been an outstanding player for India in the last couple of years. His record has been phenomenal. He is obviously the kingpin in their batting line-up. But we were talking last night in dinner about guys like Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane," Domingo told reporters at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
If the Indian batting line up gets going, there are very few bowlers in world cricket, which can contain them. Suresh Raina also proved his aggressive nature of batsmanship as he accelerated in the middle overs of the game against Pakistan.
"They (India) have got a seriously good batting line-up and it's not our style to target one individual player in a batting line-up. That's not how we go about our stuff. It's very much respecting the whole unit. Because we know they have match-winners right through their batting line-up."
Though India might possess a strong batting line up, South Africa on the other hand have one of the best bowlers in the world in the form of Dale Steyn. He has been tough to handle for Indian batsmen in the past as well.
If Sunday turns out out to be Steyn's day, India could be in for a long and hard day at work.
The Indian batsmen needs to respect Steyn and look to play out his overs and not allow him to take wickets, which would allow the Indian top order the licence to go and attack at the other end.
The fate of the match could well be determined the way India play Steyn.
