India Vs Scotland Match Today

India Vs Scotland Match

Team India Profile

The eyes of one billion people will be on the Indian team in South Africa as arguably the world’s most passionate cricketing nation hopes for national pride to be restored following its desperately disappointing CWC 2007 campaign.

A sole win over Bermuda was all India had to show for its efforts in the Caribbean, with defeats to both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka dumping the side out in the first round of the competition.However, there is no doubting the side’s ability with both bat and ball, although it will need to find early form in the ICC World Twenty20 with the draw pitching India against Pakistan in the group stages.

India’s batting line-up is looking a little less impressive than usual without the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, the leading ODI run scorer of all time, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, but there are few more spectacular and destructive hitters than captain Mahendra Dhoni, and the new faces in the team will all be looking to make a lasting impact.

The all round abilities of Yuvraj Singh, which saw him nominated for the ICC ODI Player of the Year 2006, will be vital to his team, while in terms of bowling, much pressure will fall on the likes of Ajit Ajarkar and Irfan Pathan, particularly as recent Test centurion Anil Kumble, the leading Indian ODI wicket taker of all time with 337 wickets, retired from the one day game at the end of the CWC 2007.

India was the last ICC full member to debut in Twenty20 Internationals and made an instant impact with a thrilling six-wicket victory over South Africa in Johannesburg, with the winning runs coming off the penultimate ball of the innings.

An unbeaten 31 from Dinesh Karthik, which clinched him the man of the match award, sealed the match for his team with his last-over six proving decisive in a game which saw India needing nine off the final over to win.

With its early CWC exit meaning that a number of leading international players had an unexpected opportunity to take part in their domestic Twenty20 competition, added to the experience gained by players on the English county circuit, and the confidence gained by a recent Test series win over England, India will be one of the favourites for the event.

Team Scotland

Scotland will be hoping to build on its disappointing ICC Cricket World Cup campaign in the Caribbean, although it will face difficult tests against India and Pakistan in South Africa at the ICC World Twenty20.

Few players will look back too fondly on their time in the West Indies as Scotland suffered heavy defeats to Australia and South Africa, despite some excellent cricket in parts of those games. Most disappointing of all was the defeat by the Netherlands by eight wickets.

Among the relatively few highlights was Colin Smith’s brave 51 against Australia, while Majid Haq, whose four distinguished victims at the event were Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince, impressed with his spin bowling, as did Glenn Rogers.
Led by new captain Ryan Watson, who replaced former skipper Craig Wright who stepped down as skipper at the end of the CWC 2007, the squad has some experience of Twenty20 cricket at county level which it will look to utilise at the ICC World Twenty20.

Dougie Brown, the Warwickshire all rounder, has vast experience of Twenty20 cricket with his county, playing in 27 matches before the start of the 2007 season, taking 23 wickets in total. His county colleague, Navdeep Poonia, and former Yorkshire all rounder Gavin Hamilton have also played Twenty20 cricket in England.

The team qualified for the event following an outstanding campaign at the ICC World Cricket League Division One in Kenya, Nairobi in February.

Hamilton and Fraser Watts starred in the event, both scoring three fifties, while Wright (10 wickets) and Paul Hoffmann (eight wickets) were the leading bowlers.

Scotland enjoyed an outstanding victory over Kenya in the group stages, although it couldn’t repeat its heroics against the host nation in the final when it was defeated by eight wickets. The $US250,000 that the team secured as a result of qualifying for the ICC World Twenty20 will provide funding for the future development of Scottish cricket.

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