After a very long and intense wait, the day of no error for India has arrived. India will take on the West Indies in a virtual quarter-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata to fight for the last semi-final berth. It is a do-or-die match for both the teams who are expected to come out all guns blazing because whoever loses today goes back home.
The Men in Blue are the favourites to qualify especially after their thumping 72 run victory over Zimbabwe in the last game. India unleashed its batting prowess in the last game and will look to give a tough fight to the Windies’ power-packed batting unit. Gautam Gambhir and his side will be under a lot of pressure given the hype and expectations around them.
Former South Africa great AB De Villiers has issued a warning for Suryakumar Yadav and co. De Villiers believes playing against West Indies in Kolkata will be a tough task for India.
"Everyone was tipping India to win the tournament. So it is a very high-pressure game for them, considering who they are up against, the unpredictable West Indies. And the West Indies have great memories of Eden Gardens from 2016. So it's not looking good for India, and they'll be exceptionally nervous.
He also added that the pressure to win this game might come back to haunt India.
“The West Indies are not better than India, but there are a lot of outside influences. India, all of a sudden, find themselves in a must-win game at home in front of their home crowd. The crowd can work against you sometimes, and that is where the pressure gets so big that you almost get frozen out there. You freeze as a player because you can feel the pressure from outside. You get suffocated almost.
The former RCB man said that if India manages to win today, no one can stop them from winning the World Cup.
“But I believe India has the ability to overcome that and then they'll become the dangerous team again to go on and win it. If India wins this game, they'll go on to win the tournament. No one is going to stop them." he said on his YouTube channel.
