View from ICC Champions Trophy: India have a team that feeds off pressure situations

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  • The Indian team have handled pressure well in recent times.

    After the seven-wicket loss to Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli was more stunned than upset. It was a loss that shouldn’t really have been, for India ticked most of the points necessary for an ODI win nowadays. 300-plus runs: check. Good bowling attack: check. Backed up by a decent fielding effort: check.

    It wasn’t an easy loss to consume, not for the players, and not for those watching from outside the boundary ropes. Sri Lanka had attacked, and attacked, and won on pure adventurism. It was pure and simple, even though the neutrals were still scratching their heads long after the game was over.

    “Sri Lanka played well. That is also a factor,” said Kohli, when asked where his team was found lacking. “We are playing against a team (that also wants to win). We were not playing amongst ourselves (in net practice). We are not invincible.”

    That last sentence is a massive admission for any captain, let alone a cricketer who is top of the food chain in world cricket. It is a reminder of the fallibility of even the strongest of teams, for an underdog has always had its day marked out in the world of sport. India are strangers to this situation now. They are favourites wherever they play, against whomever, in whatever conditions.

    It is a unique situation to be in. It is unlike England or Australia, who might struggle in the sub-continent on account of their spin weakness. It is unlike Sri Lanka or Bangladesh, even West Indies, who sometimes might be set back in terms of lesser quality players, general inconsistency, or simply, glaring weaknesses in their team compositions. It is unlike South Africa, that inimitable ability to crumble under the slightest of pressure. It is unlike Pakistan, who are synonymous with inconsistency, blowing hot and cold within the expanse of the same match.

    Losing is not an option for the Men in Blue. It is certainly not expected of them. And so, when they come face-to-face with a must-win game, the expectations tend to cross the permitted level.

    “I crave games like these. You want to be part of matches that are as important as this one and then if you perform, and your team gets across the line, it’s a different feeling. It improves you as a cricketer. Everyone looks forward to games like these and everyone in the team is very excited,” said Kohli on the eve of their Sunday clash with South Africa.

    It is about mindset. A team like South Africa enters such a pressure-cooker of a game with wholesome baggage. Will they fail in the same manner they did in 1999, 2003, 2015 or umpteen times in between? Will they find a new way to produce another calamitous outing? Wait, do run-outs count? Three run-outs defined South Africa’s innings on Sunday and rendered them indefensible against a strong Indian line-up.

    It is also about intensity. From the word go, India’s fielding was at its highest attentive level. There has been some criticism of this aspect previously, particularly in the game against Pakistan. Thereafter, India have slowly paid more attention to the little things, first against Sri Lanka and then again on Sunday. When you see the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar sliding around at third man/fine leg, that too after bowling long initial spells, you know that India are pumped up.

    It is then about body language, and this is where South Africa faltered most. Take their opening partnership, for example. In 10 overs, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla put on 35 runs, and 76 runs in 17.3 overs, overall. India bowled – and fielded – to a plan, never letting them get away. The openers, meanwhile, made no effort to break the shackles, as they were content in following their own plan of saving up wickets. And at no point did de Kock or Amla look to dominate the Indian bowling. The rest of the batsmen didn’t stay long enough at the crease to be able to do so, either.

    In the end, then, it is most about how you approach such games. After their loss to Pakistan, it is a wonder what South Africa would have discussed in the change room. Would they have lamented that rain robbed them a chance to defend a 220-run target, or that they should have scored more runs against the No.8 ranked ODI side? It is easy to guess this. Alternately, what would have been the talk in the Indian dressing room after the loss to Sri Lanka?

    “You have to be honest. You have to sometimes say things that hurt. You have to lay it out in front of them that this is what we did wrong, including me, and we need to take it on the chin, and accept it, and prove it. You can’t do the same mistakes over and over again,” said Kohli, after the thumping win over the No.1 ranked side.

    This is the key difference. India have learnt from failures, and learned more from success, in many ICC tournaments. Meanwhile, South Africa have made the same errors over and over again.

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