The most anticipated group B match at that ICC Cricket World Cup is now one sleep away but South Africa find themselves dealing with their biggest injury blow to date.
It is yet to be confirmed whether South Africa’s leading wicket-taker Imran Tahir at this World Cup, will play against India on Saturday.
Cricket South Africa confirmed on Thursday that their key leg spinner has suffered an undisplaced fracture in his left thumb.
“Imran injured himself during the game against England while attempting the caught and bowled, which dismissed Jonathan Trott,” said Proteas’ manager Mohammed Moosajee.
Tahir has been advised to rest for 10 days but could still feature in the Nagpur encounter.
A decision about his availability will be made on Saturday morning.
South Africa still has depth in their bowling and could call on Johan Botha who didn’t make up the starting XI against the Netherlands and England. The Proteas also have Robin Peterson to fall back on.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s batsmen will need put their defeat against the English right out of their minds because they face an Indian side that is capable of displaying devastating batting prowess.
Although India’s batting line up have been challenged a bit by Ireland and the Netherlands, they have given the Proteas a run for their money in the recent ODI series in South Africa.
Jacques Kallis, who has had a dismal time scoring only 21 runs in the three matches at the World Cup thus far, will be expected to step up his game.
“Jacques is a world class player. Over the last 15 years he’s been the rock in our team. And just because he hasn’t scored in three games, it’s not troubling to any of us. We all know it’s a matter of time before he scores. We’ve joked that it looks like he is saving his runs for the big games and I’m sure he’ll come good,” said South African opening batsmen Hashim Amla.
India’s bowling could suffer if the South African top order goes on a rampage as the Indian bowlers have been far from impressive. Their fielding has been questionable and remains a concern for Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Dhoni has also come under fire for sticking with Piyush Chawla, who has been on the more expensive side with runs.
India’s fan expressed their unhappiness when they booed Chawla in the Ireland game after his 0/56.
Their bowlers failed to perform to secure a comfortable win against England, despite posting a massive total. They let Bangladesh reach 283/9 in pursuit of a 371-run target set by the Indian batsmen.
When the Indians took on Ireland and the Netherlands, they failed to dismiss both the teams as quickly as one would have expected.
The Proteas though will want to secure a win after fumbling against England and make their task of reaching the quarterfinals easier. – Kemantha Govender, BuaNews
The Blogosphere has this to say about Tahirs Injury:
The above blogs were chosen out of the Top 64 results at the time of writing.
Can you believe that so many people will find something to write about an injured thumb?
Alan Straton
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