🏏Cricket World Cup 2023: Match #45: India vs Netherlands🏏

🏏 Cricket World Cup 2023: Match #45: India vs Netherlands at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on 12/11/2023 at 2:00PM IST 🏏

India look to go 9-0 in the World Cup as they take on Netherlands

Will Rohit Sharma be tempted to tinker with his XI?

They've been occasionally tested, but otherwise, India's World Cup run has been nothing short of magical. Now on the day of the auspicious Indian festival of Diwali, they have a chance to gift their fans another dose of entertainment, and even though we know that anything can happen in sport, a defeat for the hosts is extremely unlikely.

That's because India have been absolutely dominant during their 8-0 run at this World Cup. Coming into their final league game, they face the least-fancied team of the tournament, Netherlands, even if they have performed better than expected. With a semi-final against New Zealand on Wednesday their next big game, Sunday also offers India a chance to rest key personnel should there be a need for it.

According to India head coach Rahul Dravid's press conference, India are not looking at "tactical" changes, but they may yet be tempted to give some game time to the likes of Prasidh Krishna, who is playing his first World Cup, or R Ashwin, who hasn't played since the first game against Australia last month.

Someone who is unlikely to be rested, though, is Virat Kohli, who is chasing a century that will put him where no man has ever gone before - 50 ODI tons. Both Kohli, and India, will hope that a hundred on Sunday brings a close to all the chatter about records being broken, and by the time the semi-final comes along, the collective focus of the Indian side is on that elusive knockout win and not on milestones that, on some occasions, have taken importance over the ruthlessness of victory in this tournament.

Netherlands will have their own statement to make. They've been in India longer than any other visiting side this World Cup, and despite the highs of two terrific wins, they wouldn't want to finish rock-bottom on the points table. They wanted to desperately play the warm-up game against India that got washed out, but here is another chance to shine in what will most likely be their team's most-watched game of international cricket. It will be excruciatingly difficult though, as eight other teams have already learnt.

Tag Credit: Sutapasima

In the spotlight: Shubman Gill and Bas de Leede

Before the World Cup, Shubman Gill was the unanimous choice among fans and experts as the one player most likely to succeed at the World Cup. But it hasn't been so. A case of dengue made him lose muscle mass and weight, he wasn't at full fitness at the start of the tournament, and a run of only two half-centuries in six innings has meant his overall performance has been below the lofty stands he has himself set. With Rohit Sharma and Kohli churning out the runs, Gill's scores have gone under the radar, but India would want a big score from the opener ahead of the big semi-final in Mumbai.

He has the most wickets for Netherlands at this World Cup (14) but he also has the worst economy (7.10) among his team's quicks. For Bas de Leede, this competition promised a lot of highs but all that followed after his all-round effort against Pakistan has been disappointment. He's leaked runs, he's failed to score crucial runs from the lower-middle order, and the bottom line is that he has not lived up to his potential. Here's one last chance for him to make a mark, and you never know... a strong performance against hosts India could be the perfect finish with an IPL auction also looming next month.

India vs Netherlands Weather Report:

According to weather.com, suggests that the temperature of Bengaluru City on Sunday, November 12 will be 27° Celcius during the day and 16° Celcius at night. The sky will be cloudy during the day but clear at night.

According to the India vs Netherlands Weather Report, the chances of rain are 2% during the day and 3% at night. Hence, the IND vs NED encounter will not be affected by rain. The humidity will be 63% during the day and rise to 84% at night.

The India vs Netherlands Pitch Report suggests that M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru is a high-scoring ground. The average 1st innings total in ODIs is 237 while the average 2nd innings total is 216. The stadium has witnessed 41 ODIs so far. The team batting first won 15 games while the team batting second won 22 matches.

The highest-ever team total at the stadium is 401/6 by New Zealand, which they posted in ICC World Cup 2023. The pitch at Bengaluru Stadium is considered good for batting and many teams have posted big totals at the stadium.

Pitch and conditions: Big score galore

Runs, runs and more runs shall be the theme at the last World Cup game scheduled for the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. Australia scored 367 against Pakistan here while New Zealand thumped 401. If India bat first, their aim will be for a score in that region.

Don't forget to submit your predictions for match 45.

Toss prediction before 1:30 PM IST and rest of the predictions before 2:00 PM IST.

All the very best to everyone!

Tag Credit: Sutapasima

Rohit Sharma charged out of his crease, making room to free his arms. The bowler spotted the danger and adjusted, bowling back of a length and at the body. The Indian captain still hit it for a six so big that it thundered onto the galvanised asbestos sheet on the upper roof of the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, startling a kite perched on it and peering away from the action.

It will have been quite the exercise in restraint to avert a gaze at India in this World Cup when they've operated like a snazzy, hyper-engineered German car, with all its parts whirring in total sync. But even a hi-spec machine requires a tune-up and the occasional need to run diagnostics on its different systems. And so Rohit batted 32 minutes, two nights out from the game, constantly trying to put bowlers off their lengths. Virat Kohli followed him for an equally purposeful session.

The bowlers - the whole lot of them - put the line-up through a serious inquisition, the kind they've been doing to opposition batters. It was all emblematic of the no-frills, no milling about approach to their final stretch of the campaign with the big moment(s) under the brightest lights waiting on the other side of the Diwali.

It was here in Bengaluru that this juggernaut began to roll two months ago. Since that camp at Alur, India have won the Asia Cup title, climbed to the top of the ICC rankings and on Sunday will have an opportunity to complete an invincible league campaign at a World Cup. While the jury may still be out on this team's cred, at least for another week, it is hard to ignore their dominance, the run they've been on and the sheer range of their performances.

A pre-tournament camp at Alur is perhaps the only thing Netherlands have in common with India. Since those losses to Karnataka in the practice games, the Dutch have put together a laudable World Cup campaign with notable wins over South Africa and Bangladesh.

A chance to play India for an associate nation doesn't come around too often. There was a 11-year gap to their previous meeting at the SCG, but they're now playing Rohit Sharma's team again in 12 months' time. In a weird way, that is a sign of progress. There's a Champions Trophy berth to fight for and the Dutch will be out to prove that they aren't just a box for India to tick off. Tomorrow marks an opportunity for some loud statement-making in one of the loudest settings in international cricket.

When: India vs Netherlands, November 12, 14:00 IST

Where: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

What to expect: A pleasant Bengaluru day with no prospect of rain. The mercury has dipped ever so slightly in the city with winter just around the corner. The Chinnaswamy Stadium has played true to its 'bat second' character with chasing teams having won three of the four games here. The pitch used for this game is to the left of the one that New Zealand played and won on Thursday and sported a tinge of grass that is but a binding element.

Team Watch:

India

India have had a six-day break since their last game against South Africa and head coach Rahul Dravid hinted that was enough of a rest for a full strength team to play.

Tactics & Strategy:

Max O'Dowd is a quality player going through a wretched run of form in this World Cup. He has just 108 runs from 8 innings with a best of 42. He will be up against the most incisive new-ball attack in the competition that will look to set the tone once more.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Netherlands

Netherlands are likely to keep the same XI that played in the last game unless they decide to swap out one under-performing opener (O'Dowd) for another (Vikramjit Singh)

Tactics & Strategy:

Scott Edwards is a good player of spin bowling, averaging 62.77 over 820 balls in ODI cricket. Netherlands will want their captain to take charge against Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav on a ground with the highest economy rate for spin among the 10 venues in this competition.

Probable XI: Wesley Barresi, Max O'Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (c&wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merve, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren

Did you know?

- Virat Kohli averages only 25.33 from six ODIs played in Bengaluru

- Bas de Leede has 18 wickets in the death overs (41-50) since the start of 2022

- Bengaluru has the best runs-per-wicket ratio - 36.45 - at this World Cup, marginally ahead of Pune (35.82) and Mumbai (35.73).

What they said:

"You're at a pointy end of a tournament now. So now at this stage it's about just focusing on getting the guys who you think are going to be playing in the 11 in the best possible space mentally and physically to be able to play that semifinal and hopefully the final if we earn it. So that will be the single point of thinking. There are times for larger-picture thinking and there are times for narrow-focus thinking and in my opinion, now's the time for sheer narrow-focus thinking if everyone is fit." - Rahul Dravid hints that there won't be any tinkering with personnel with just a week to go in the World Cup.

HEAD TO HEAD LAST 2 MATCHES

India won by 5 wickets (with 81 balls remaining) 09-Mar-2011

India won by 68 runs 12-Feb-2003