Steyn misses training with flu

A flu that has extended beyond four days kept South African speedster Dale Steyn out of training as the team began the Australian leg of their World Cup campaign. Steyn reported a sore throat and blocked nose after South Africa’s tournament opener against Zimbabwe on Sunday, in which he bowled nine overs with a return of 1 for 64, but may have shown symptoms before that.

He was only a bit-part participant in the training sessions leading up to the first match, in which he bowled off a short run-up and stayed away from the traditional football warm-ups. South Africa have yet to issue any official word on Steyn’s fitness but he still has three days to get ready for Sunday’s clash against India at the MCG.

Should Steyn recover it will be his first meeting with India at an ICC 50-over event since the 2011 World Cup, after sitting out the 2013 Champions Trophy clash with a side strain. He has played against them in two World T20s in that time, although he was battling a hamstring injury in the 2014 event.

Steyn’s spate of injuries at major tournaments seems to be working against South Africa but they also have plenty going for them. Their two specialist consultants, Gary Kirsten and Michael Hussey, held their first sessions with the squad at St. Kilda Cricket Club. Kirsten, who is on a 50-days-a-year deal with South Africa and had arrived fresh from the IPL auction, spent a significant portion of the session giving David Miller throwdowns while Hussey, who was roped in specifically for the World Cup, had lengthy discussions with JP Duminy and Chennai Super Kings team-mate Faf du Plessis.

Hussey’s experience of Australian grounds is what South Africa are after, as they gear up for what they have identified as the must-win game in their group. Victory over India could pave the way to pole position in the pool. That’s why this match is a pressure test and for South Africa, it’s particularly important in judging the progress they have made in overcoming the problems that have sent them packing from World Cups in the past.

Although South Africa have not lost any of their three World Cup clashes against India and have had the better of them in the format overall with 42 wins from 70 meetings, the challenge of competing with them comes from all the sideshows. India have the largest media contingent of all competing countries and a knack of getting under South African skins. At the 2011 tournament, Graeme Smith was visibly irritated with questions about choking, which started days before the match against India and weeks before a knockout situation.

To avoid that this time, South Africa stuck strictly to their vision-only media opportunity at their training session which took place at home ground of one of cricket’s most confident men, Shane Warne. St. Kilda Cricket Club is tucked away in the suburbs, away from the hustle-bustle of the Melbourne CBD but not the glare of the cameras or the press people behind them. There were 30 journalists from India in attendance and five from South Africa.

The South African silence is a big departure from their usual player-a-day interviews. The Indian mediapersons believe it is at least partly driven by India adopting a similar strategy. The jury is out on that, especially after the team and management all shared pleasantries and wore relaxed smiles.

Faf du Plessis stopped to take a selfie with a net bowler, Morne Morkel to catch up with one of the men he knows from his time with the Kolkata Knight Riders, convener of selectors Andrew Hudson rolled back the years and briefly took part in the training session while some of the support staff threw to Allan Donald, who tried to smack as many sixes as he could with a sidearm.

As the team had concluded their outing and got ready to the leave the field, the mass of media people crowded the passageway through which they were walking. CSA’s in-house videographer was quick to recognise the moment. He pointed his camera at the journalists and captured the images of them capturing the images of the cricketers. It seemed as though feature films were being shot on both sides of the boundary.

The expectation in the air was impossible to ignore, as it always in the lead-up to an important game, and South Africa appeared to embrace it. Tomorrow it will only get more electric as the show moves to the MCG, where South Africa will have their first opportunity to acquaint themselves with the arena where they will take on India. Doubtless, they will hope Steyn’s flu abates and he is allowed to join them.