It’s India’s batting versus SA’s bowling, says Virat Kohli

Melbourne: India vice-captain Virat Kohli predicts an “exciting” tussle between his team’s batsmen and South Africa’s bowlers during Sunday’s World Cup blockbuster at the MCG.“Both sides are balanced, so it all depends on how you play on the day,” the leading India batsman said ahead of the key Pool ‘B’ match that will almost certainly assure the winner a place in the quarterfinals.

Both teams won their opening games, defending champions India thrashing Pakistan by 76 runs in Adelaide last Sunday and South Africa beating Zimbabwe by 62 runs in Hamilton earlier the same day.Kohli, deputising for skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni at Saturday’s pre-match media conference, said the hard pitch with extra bounce at the MCG will be a challenge for the two teams.

“They have good fast bowlers and we have the batsmen. So it should be an exciting contest between their bowlers and our batsmen. The key will be to sustain the momentum for the whole innings. It is not easy to clear boundaries at a big ground like the MCG, so trying to step it up towards the end won’t be easy. We need a calculated approach to batting,” he said.

The 26-year-old has prospered at the MCG, making 169 and 54 during the drawn Test against Australia in December. He followed that with a match-winning 107 in the World Cup opener against Pakistan in Adelaide. Kohli and the other Indian batsmen now face the prospect of facing a formidable attack that includes Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, backed by Kyle Abbott and Wayne Parnell. Kohli said it was an advantage having played alongside the fearsome Steyn and prolific AB de Villiers for the same Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise in the Indian Premier League.