ICC World Cup 2023: League of their own!

India captain Rohit Sharma at the M Chinnaswamy nets, Bangalore, on Saturday. Pic/Bipin Patel

To the larger majority, Sunday's fixture against the Netherlands is a dead rubber between the No. 1 and No. 10 teams on the table, but the Indian contingent at the World Cup doesn't belong to that category. Having mounted a fabulous campaign so far, Rohit Sharma's men will leave no stone unturned in their bid to carry an unbeaten record into Wednesday's semi-final against New Zealand when they come up against the Netherlands.

Well rested since their schooling of South Africa in Kolkata last Sunday, India have built beautifully towards this game. The entire side took three days off from practice, but when it did turn up at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, there was no shortage of intensity or purpose.

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Rohit, Gill sweat it out

On Saturday afternoon, it was no different at another optional session. Skipper Rohit and Shubman Gill spent long minutes facing bowling of different hues and quality, and were joined by Ishan Kishan, superfluous to India's plans since Gill's return from the third match onwards after a bout of dengue.

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Head coach Rahul Dravid all but ruled out the possibility of India ringing in the changes, harping on a ‘narrow, focused approach' as the tournament heads towards what he called the ‘pointy' end. In any case, it will be hard for the think-tank, even if it was so inclined, to bench any of the three fast bowlers, who are in such awesome rhythm, or Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja, on top of their game and looking to extend their wicket-taking form.

High-scoring venue

Deepavali Sunday promises fireworks aplenty at a high-scoring, fast-scoring ground where most teams have made merry in this competition. The Netherlands might find India's firepower intimidating and overwhelming, like most teams have done thus far, but they won't turn up merely to make up the numbers.

Scott Edwards's side have won only two games - stunningly, one of those came against South Africa - but they have had their moments, competitive to a point before ceding to more powerful teams. A discernible lack of big-match experience has been one of the factors towards that end, but with nothing to lose, they will aspire to put on a show for what's expected to be a packed house. Roelof van der Merwe, the ageless left-arm spinner, has first-hand knowledge of the conditions here, having played for Royal Challengers Bangalore, but with RCB's main man in the opposition ranks, the Dutchman will perforce have to play second fiddle, at best.

Having drawn abreast of Sachin Tendulkar's record 49 ODI tons in Kolkata, the attention will now shift to whether Virat Kohli can bring up No. 50 at his home away from home. Beloved and idolised all over the country, Kohli understandably enjoys a special relationship with the country's IT capital, so don't rule out more magic on Sunday.