Temba Bavuma and his players may not realise it now but the opportunity to play a World Cup match against India at Eden Gardens, the spiritual home of cricket, without a desperate need to win it, is a once-in-several-lifetimes opportunity.
The South African captain is as disciplined about not showing emotion during press briefings as he is about his batting, which seems a shame. A little word about the ‘privilege’ of playing the hosts at this venue, and the excitement, might have won over a few supporters, neutrals if not Indians.
His own form was questioned, in light of the amount and speed of runs being scored by the rest of the top six: “You always want to make contributions but the other batters are smashing it and I take some comfort in the fact that I've been involved in some partnerships with Quinton front,” Bavuma told a packed press conference with 18 television cameras.
“Obviously I’d like to have extended them but maybe it's just one of those patches when you're kind of scratching, but you've got to keep the belief that the opportunity will come to make a big play. But we've been getting good starts in the first 10 overs and obviously, with the guys being in form, they've been able to exploit that,” Bavuma said.
De Kock made a point of saying yesterday that the team has full faith in the skipper: “I take a lot of confidence from that, it’s something I feel every day within the team. We’re a group of batters who've been with each other for the last three or four years and we've seen each other go through the little ups and the downs. We know that all of us have what it takes to get over the little challenges that we face,” Bavuma said. “I believe that I'll have a part to play somewhere within the tournament.”
“It’s a big occasion to play at Eden Gardens, but it does become another game of cricket again.” Oh dear.
Bavuma did admit that the ‘luxury’ of underdog status was over, given the margins of their victories: “It’s probably hard to keep that status now but, in terms of the team, everything stays the same. We don't see ourselves any different. We'll still take it day by day, game by game.” Of course.
So how might India be beaten? It wasn’t a question Bavuma answered quickly or easily. “They obviously only have five bowlers, so they can, I guess, be put under pressure if one of their bowlers is not on their day. But you've got to respect their attack a little bit more than the other bowling attacks and understand that you're going to have to play good cricket for longer periods, maybe play compact cricket for longer,” Bavuma said.
Although a fresh pitch was prepared for the game, the Cricket Association of Bengal (not the ICC) decided to re-use the strip used eight days ago for the Bangladesh/Netherlands match in which the Men in Orange prevailed by 87-runs. The reason? The new pitch would have cut the total attendance by around 200.
Tickets are at a premium, and completely beyond the control of the international governing body who are, in name only, the tournament hosts. Local news has reported the arrest of 26 fraudsters and touts. Chaos and baton-wielding police are forecast for tomorrow with several thousand of the 70,000 fans likely to be disappointed by their purchase.
They won’t end up in the adjacent Supreme Court of Kolkata, of course, but if they did, they might discover just how slowly the wheels of justice turn here. The average case lasts seven years.