South Africa will be eager to put points on board when they face India on June 5, at the Rose Bowl Cricket Ground.
Dale Steyn
SOUTHAMPTON: After losing their first two World Cup matches, the tension in the South Africa camp was palpable yesterday.
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Although it was a no training day for the Proteas as they were travelling here from London after the loss to Bangladesh, senior batsman Hashim Amla made a dash to the Ageas Bowl for a short practice session. He was accompanied by Dale Steyn, who has a shoulder injury.
Amla batted for over 45 minutes while Steyn rolled his arm over for a brief period. Amla is expected to be fit for the match against India tomorrow after suffering a head blow against England in the World Cup opener on May 30. Amla had missed South Africa’s last match against Bangladesh.
Dhoni, the pace mentor
TEAM India had a light training session here yesterday. While the sun and the clouds kept playing hide and seek, the training session was hampered a bit by rain. If bowling coach Bharat Arun engaged with Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in an intense discussion, the senior-most player MS Dhoni was seen mentoring the pace bowlers and all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar. Dhoni was seen providing a few tips on the seam position.
Dope test for Bumrah & Co
Several Indians players including Jasprit Bumrah had to undergo dope testing at the Ageas Bowl yesterday. Bumrah was called twice in between the practice session.
Isn’t there a World Cup on?
WITH sufficient buzz for the ICC World Cup on the aircraft, it was different when one landed at London’s Heathrow Airport on Sunday.
The only cricket-related item that one came across at Terminal 4 was a bit of information of the Mike Gatting-led English team that had arrived here in 1987 after winning The Ashes.
With England set for a bumper summer of cricket with the World Cup being followed by The Ashes (just like in 1975), there seemed to be hardly any indication, at least at the airport, of the World Cup being underway. However, the buzz, according to locals, is expected to pick up once India gets into the groove.
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