Mumbai: India will kick off their World Cup 2019 campaign on Wednesday against South Africa. The Men in Blue will be looking to initiate their World Cup campaign with a win over Proteas. India is considered as one of the favourites to win the mega-event and has dominated the limited overs format in recent years.
After smashing a ton against Bangladesh, KL Rahul has secured the number four spot of the Indian batting line-up. In the first warm-up game, India’s batting order collapsed against the fury of Jimmy Neesham and Trent Boult.
However, Kohli and co were successful to retaliate against Bangladesh by securing a convincing win. The bowling attack of Team India will be led by the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami. India will also look to bank on the all-round capabilities of Hardik Pandya.
On the other hand, Proteas are already in trouble after losing their first two games against England and Bangladesh respectively. South Africa missed the services of Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn in their previous match. Faf du Plessis will be hoping to lead the team to break their duck in the points table. The overcast conditions and rain might aid fast bowlers.
South Africa's bowling unit, led by Kagiso Rabada will be tested against a strong batting line-up. An over-reliance on the short ball and messy fielding was the prime reason behind South Africa's defeat in their previous match against Bangladesh. It is going to be an uphill task for the Proteas to bounce back on the stage and live up to their World Cup expectations.
Squads:
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, JP Duminy, Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris, Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi, Dwaine Pretorius, Aiden Markram, Tabraiz Shamsi.
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Kedar Jadhav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dinesh Karthik.
Dream11:
Virat Kohli(C), Faf du Plessis, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rassie van der Dussen, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kuldeep Yadav, Kagiso Rabada,
