'Whoever defeated India': Sami Chaudhry's column

The only thing in their performance so far is that defending champions England are at the bottom of the points table, otherwise everything else has been business as usual and the four semi-finalists have almost been decided.

It was not long ago that Fakhar Zaman's unbeaten innings against New Zealand was being declared as the best century of the World Cup, but last night at the Wankhede Stadium, Glenn Maxwell played the best innings in the history of ODI cricket with his half-unfinished body. put

There have been some great innings in chasing the target in the World Cup before, most notably the innings of the recent past, where Irish middle-order batsman Kevin O'Brien bowled Stuart Broad and James Anderson in pursuit of a dangerous target. The English team was overwhelmed by the contained English attack.

But O'Brien's innings did not emerge in such unfavorable conditions as Glenn Maxwell was facing here. After seven wickets fell in the first hour of the Australian innings, Afghanistan were on the verge of a new upset record, but Maxwell's ambitions were different.

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The bad news for New Zealand is that their match against Sri Lanka may be rained out. If this match goes down in bad weather, Williamson's team will have to look forward to the defeat of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the next matches. Afghanistan's defeat against South Africa is not far-fetched, but England's current form is almost impossible to beat Pakistan.

The performance so far has also made it clear that the South African team looks forward to the luck of the toss for their best performance. So far in three matches of the tournament, they have had to chase down the target and managed only a narrow one-wicket win against Pakistan.

So, if Temba Bavuma loses the toss in the knockout stage, the rival captain will surely invite him to bowl first as this strongest batting line-up in pursuit of the target becomes a battleground of nerves in itself and the first innings is a battleground. Bazarjamhar's batsmen continue to suffer from no runs in the second innings.

In the knockout stages, the captain who wins the toss will also prefer to bat first as it is usually difficult for the batsmen to face two new balls under the artificial light of floodlights. And if the

bowling attack is of India, then this problem goes beyond difficulty and beyond possibilit

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Until recently, there was a frequent debate that if the attack consisting of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah is the best pace attack in the world, then is there anything else like it. But now the debate is over that the attack consisting of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj and Mohammad Shami is undoubtedly the best pace attack in the world.

Not only are these three pacers well-acquainted with their home conditions and the bounce of different types of red and black clay, but they are also adept at hitting the same length successively with discipline. And this ability in discipline is only possible because these three bowlers have their base in first-class cricket rather than T20.

This Indian pace attack is literally unstoppable when the ball is new, there is even a slight swing in the wicket and the artificial lights are on. Yes, if a team has a jerry top-order that can find its footing in the face of this pace and endure the onslaught until the ball fades, then a middle-order batsman with good footwork might not be able to break it. can do

The Indian team is not only the favorite based on their home conditions but also their batting under the exemplary leadership of Rohit Sharma. And apart from pace, their two spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are also unlikely to be played by any opponent.

The action so far makes it clear that this World Cup belongs to India and if the other three semi-finalists want to challenge that fact, they will have to beat India first because whoever beats India, the trophy will not be far away