Cape Town: It’s one thing to make the
World Cup’s Super Six, quite another to actually progress from there. First-timers
Kenya are aware of that, though they do have the weight of (10) carried-over points
behind them. Yet, if they are eyeing a repeat of
Gwalior (1998) or Port Elizabeth (2001), they could be in for much despair: Sourav
Ganguly’s Team India is currently on such a high that a potentially bitter lesson
awaits Steve Tikolo and his men. If the Indians
do have a worry, it’s the toss. Of course, Sourav didn’t harp on that too much
Thursday, on the eve of the first Super Six game, but Newlands is known to be
partial towards seam and swing when the floodlights are on. In
fact, ‘concern’ over the toss apart, Sourav’s worry (in the lead-up) had everything
to do with the sole specialist spinner’s slot. Harbhajan Singh... Anil Kumble...
Harbhajan... Kumble... Harbhajan... Rarely has
the captain been in such a dilemma: Should he drop the seasoned Kumble after one
failure (against Pakistan) or give him another chance? Reaching for the answer
— bringing back Harbhajan, according to The Telegraph’s sources — caused
a bigger headache than the Kenyans’ potential to create a flutter. That
Harbhajan will be back was “almost certain” by late Wednesday. However, some 16
hours later, Kumble’s chances of retaining his berth improved dramatically. By
late Thursday, it was back to ‘advantage’ Harbhajan. “The
captain has gone through an agonising time... In principle, he is opposed to dropping
somebody after just one match. At the same time, many with influence kept suggesting
that Harbhajan be brought back,” observed a well-placed source. Eventually,
Sourav appears to have gone with the (internal) majority view. The
Kenyans, on the other hand, don’t have to tackle such a sensitive issue. According
to coach Sandeep Patil, they will be picking from XIII — out of contention are
former captain Aasif Karim and Alpesh Vadher. “Light rain is forecast in the morning
and, so, we will wait and see what the conditions really are,” Patil, looking
to build on the Sri Lanka-upset, added. That stunning
win remains Kenya’s No.1 achievement in this edition, but their batting has left
much to be desired. A top score of 217 for seven, that too versus Bangladesh,
can’t be anybody’s idea of inspiration. Worse, after qualifying for the Super
Six, the Kenyans got thrashed by the West Indies. Whether
they are worth just the 104 scraped against the West Indies will soon be known.
Only, the appetite of the Jawagal Srinaths has been whetted. For
Team India, Friday offers an excellent opportunity of adding to the (eight) carried-over
points and an increase by four will take off much of the pressure in the more
demandi- ng games — versus Sri Lanka (March 10) and New Zealand (March 14). “Right
now, we are taking it one at a time, insisted Sourav,” who should be looking at
a handsome score to boost confidence before the home stretch of this World Cup.
The cynosure, though, will be the peerless Sachin Tendulkar, who is comfortably
placed for the Man of the Tournament award. Virender
Sehwag, who hurt his right index finger while attempting a high catch Wednesday,
is “fully fit”. The time for him to fire is long overdue. TEAMS INDIA
(likely): Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Mohammed Kaif, Rahul
Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Harbhajan Singh, Jawagal Srinath, Zaheer
Khan and Ashish Nehra. KENYA (from): Steve
Tikolo (captain), Maurice Odumbe, Ravindu Shah, Hitesh Modi, Brijal Patel, Martin
Suji, Tony Suji, Thomas Odoyo, Kennedy Otieno, Joseph Angara, Peter Ongondo, David
Obuya, Collins Obuya. Umpires: Peter Willey
(Eng), Daryl Harper (Aus). Match Referee: Wasim Raja (Pak). Match starts:
6.00 pm (IST). | 
