Ravi Shastri doesn't know of Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma.
Yes, you read that right.
"I don't know who Shami is. I don't know who Umesh is. And I don't know who Mohit is," India's director of cricket said on the sidelines of the team's practice session at the pocket-sized Seddon Park here on Monday. "But I know of the 'Nawab of Kolkata', 'The Vidarbha Express' and 'The Haryana Express'," he added.
No harm in that approach, you see. Done and dusted, gone for all money and emphatically written off after their travails in neighbouring Australia not too long ago, India's pace battery has hit back in style. Together, the trio has accounted for 21 of the 40 opposition wickets that India have accounted for.
Everyone's going gaga over the professionalism displayed by the New Zealand pacers throughout their five Group 'A' fixtures. Wonder why nobody's talking about the brilliance exhibited by India's fast bowlers. Steaming in with hitherto unseen intent, each of them has kept the speed gun and its operator interested by consistently clocked the high 140s.
In the process, they have played their part in bowling out the opposition on all four occasions. The longest India have stayed on the field is 47 overs, against Pakistan on February 15. South Africa were dealt with in 40.2 overs, the United Arab Emirates in 31.3 and the West Indies in 44.2. If this isn't magical realism in the cricketing sense, then what is?
On the eve of India's fifth Group 'B' clash against giant-killers Ireland, Shastri did all he could to keep the 'Nawab' and his 'Express' sidekicks in high spirits. Oozing positivity and panache, the 52-year-old then attended to the under-fire Ravindra Jadeja by applauding the left-hander every time he hit a good shot. This went on for 20 minutes. A few days after skipper MS Dhoni rapped Jadeja on the knuckles through the media, Shastri did all he could to instill confidence in the 'rockstar'. Jadeja responded well in the nets. But can he now translate his form with the ball into form with the bat?
Victory on Tuesday will assure India of top spot and a lot more. If things go according to script — they already have, perhaps — an MCG quarterfinal against neighbours Bangladesh beckons. But Ireland are no pushovers. Having scored three wins in four games, including one against the hapless West Indies, the Associates have well and truly punched above their weight.
With the conditions — 18 degrees Celsius, gentle breeze and all that — expected to assist seamers, Ireland will go into the game with hope even though the curator has promised a "batting beauty". And Ireland have the men who can make it happen.
But India are on a different plane altogether. The last time they crossed the Tasman Sea into Kiwiland, in early 2014, they won nothing at all. This time, things are slightly different, aren't they? May the juggernaut continue to roll, then.
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