Image Credit- ICC
India’s coach, Rahul Dravid, has all but ruled out the
prospect of making significant changes to the starting lineup for their World
Cup league match against the Netherlands, despite the fact that they will
undoubtedly win the championship. India has played four games with the same
starting lineup, the most recent one being on November 5 against South Africa.
“I mean, honestly, we’ve had six days off from
the last game,” Dravid said on the eve of the match in Bengaluru.
“So, we’re pretty well rested. We’ve got one game before the semi-final
and the guys are in good shape. That’s all I’ll say without giving away
much.”
Dravid was asked whether someone like Prasidh Krishna,
an injury replacement for Hardik Pandya, could get a chance just to have him
ready in case he’s needed in a knockout game.
“So now at this stage, it’s about just focusing
on getting the guys who you think are going to be playing in the XI in the best
possible space mentally and physically, to be able to play that semi-final and,
hopefully, the final if we earn it,” he said. “So that will be the
single-pointed thinking. There are times for larger-picture thinking and there
are times for narrow-focus thinking in my opinion and now’s the time for
narrow-focus thinking if everyone is fit.”
Dravid went to great lengths to underline the efforts
of India’s middle order, considering two of the three players – Shreyas Iyer
and KL Rahul – were on the mend from serious injuries and missed much of
India’s run-up to the World Cup.
“Yeah, it’s terrific,” Dravid said. “I
answered this question if I remember in Chennai. I said middle orders are going
to be very, very important in a tournament like this. How well your middle
order performs in, sometimes, very tricky conditions and challenging situations
under pressure is actually going to probably decide how well you do.
“And you can look at a lot of these small, small
things, and actually that’s what really gives you those ticks, or gives you
those wins at the end of the day. So, it’s a combination of things. And touch
wood, our middle order has been truly exceptional in this tournament.”