Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has stated that it won’t matter to a team like India who it would face in the semifinals of the Champions Trophy, and the focus will be kept solely on their actual form before the big game.
After the washout of the match between Australia and Afghanistan, they basically got qualified for the semifinals, and South Africa has almost sealed a living position in the semifinals unless they lose to England by a margin exceeding 200 runs.
In the group stages, India and New Zealand were the first two teams to qualify by their wins over Pakistan and Bangladesh, respectively.
“Truly, as a cricketer, it’s the most irrelevant thing for us in terms of who is going to oppose us. For us as a team, the focus is on our form, our strength, our mindset, which goes so much farther than the question of who we are to play against, or on what pitches we will play,” Uthappa said while speaking at the launch of a book, Life Lessons from Cricket.
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Any confident and in-form team would never think on these lines. They would focus on what needs to be done to win the game,” Uthappa said.
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During the last ICC ODI tournament, India’s one defeat against Australia in the league stage wasn’t before they beat Australia conscious of their reasons for the final. In the league stage, they also thrashed South Africa by 243 runs.
India will take on New Zealand in their last group stage match of the 2023 Champions Trophy on Sunday, March 2, in Dubai. India had beaten the Kiwis in both the league stage and semifinals of the ODI World Cup.
Former cricketer Lalchand Rajput has, to some extent, knowledge in the field of coaching. He stated what a coach would feel before such fixtures before the New Zealand match.
“A coach never views it [dead rubber] as a meaningless game. A coach in the real world is a bit more serious than that, because you want your team to win every match and try putting your best players on the field any time you can, and the only reason you would not do that is due to injuries or workload management,” said Rajput.
Besides, he said: “When a team is winning, it is important to keep building on it. If a team has already qualified, and several players are changed and the team loses, then there is a habit formed of that kind (like loss of momentum), and when there is success, it is important to finish. A good team is one that plays at the top of the game.”
