Awaiting the double treat

In the first meeting of neutrals at the MCG during the last Australasia-hosted World Cup, a young batsman who had played only one Test and 16 uneventful one-dayers gave a compelling hint of glories to come. Only 14,162 saw Brian Lara's 88 against Pakistan, which distinguished their "I was there when ..." boast all the more.

On Sunday many tens of thousands more will take their seats craving a similar treat of batsmanship, and believing they have double the chance of witnessing it. For the impartial, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli represent the great lure of any sporting world championship -- to see the best when they're at their best.

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De Villiers alone demands a megaphone-toting spruiker crying, "Roll up, roll up!" on the pathways of Yarra Park. Mickey Arthur, South Africa's coach during his early, largely unspectacular 50-over sorties, calls his batting over the past year "phenomenal". Arthur coaches children who ape his improvisation, and credits such adventure with bringing huge excitement to the game.

"They're playing ramp shots, they're reverse sweeping -- because the game has gone to another level," Arthur says. "It's making for such an attractive game that they draw more people into cricket. We shouldn't lose sight of that."

Arthur thinks it will be a shame if the hum of de Villiers's astonishing recent form -- which includes a record 31-ball century against West Indies last month after coming to the crease in the 39th over -- is drowned by protests over bat size, flat pitches and shrunken grounds. He won't be putting an asterisk alongside de Villiers's feats.

"You've got de Villiers, [Hashim] Amla, Kohli, [David] Warner, [Steve] Smith, these guys are at the top of their games at the moment. To have AB and Virat on the same stage on Sunday in Melbourne is going to be incredible."

Mick Lewis played in de Villiers's first one-day series against Australia, in 2006. Now Victoria's fast bowling coach, he sees the 31-year-old's ability to get the basics right from ball one -- underpinned by footwork -- as the bedrock of what sets him apart.

Like Arthur, he acknowledges that any de Villiers plan encounters a target who has reached that transcendent stage of batting maturity -- he knows his game inside out. "He reads game situations so well," Arthur says. "He's matured no end in terms of cricket awareness."

Lewis does not view the form of de Villiers and Kohli through the prism of an old fast bowler bemoaning how good batsmen have it in the modern game. He sees two great players making a lasting impression.

"You can talk about modern bats all you want, but at the end of the day you've still got to hit the ball in the right places. I think they're two superstars, and in years to come we'll still be looking at these guys and trying to emulate the way they play."

In Melbourne on Friday, veteran author and commentator Ashis Ray launched his book on India's World Cup history. He chuckles that its title -- The Indian Challenge -- might on Sunday zero in on South Africa's captain.

Ray thinks it would be folly to boil the contest down to two players, and rates the two teams evenly in batting terms. Then, as if India's challenge crept up and tapped him on the shoulder, he added, "There is, of course, the big star in Abraham de Villiers ..."