By: Tarish Bhatt
Either captain Virat Kohli or Yuvraj Singh would have to come up with a Sunday special. India will face South Africa in a must-win game to qualify for the semifinals of the Champions Trophy.
With both the openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma striking the ball clean, the No. 3 in Kohli and No.4 in Yuvraj would have to come up with a special show to prop up their team.
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The good thing is that both Kohli and Yuvraj have already scored big runs in the Pakistan game. All the Indian fans would be hoping that the duo would come back with big scores against South Africa.
It is envisaged that Kohli-Yuvraj combination has performed for India at all level. But this is the match which has a lot in stake for India. They are the defending champions and bowing out of the tournament before the semifinals would be a big blow for them.
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Therefore, these two middle-order slots would eventually decide what kind of score India would be looking at while batting first or chasing the winning total. It would also be interesting to see how the Indian team management work around to select the best possible XI for the match.
With the two selectors, captain and coach deciding the playing XI, it would be interesting to see if India would be opting for the same pace attack or would try to bring in Mohammad Shami for his wicket-taking ability.
It would also be interesting to see if left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja would be interested to retain his place after an ordinary match against Sri Lanka and bring in experienced R Ashwin for this crucial game.
All put together, India have only one option and that is to win and stay alive in the Champions Trophy.
