The first match of the hastily organized India – Sri Lanka series saw India win a massive victory. But it would be harsh to blame the Sri Lankan players for the defeat, as one must allow for the fact that the team from the Island Nation were hardly prepared at all. So, this match to be played in Ahmedabad may well be different, as we expect a substantial improvement in performance from Sri Lanka.
The wicket at Ahmedabad has a bit of grass on it, which gives it extra bounce. But the wicket is not that quick, and the bounce should make it ideal for run scoring. As the veteran Sri Lankan opening batsman Tilekaratne Dilshan said in a press conference, “It’s a good wicket and both teams will be expecting to score more than 300.”
India’s temporary captain, Virat Kohli would be buoyed by his team’s performance in the first match. Asked about how his new responsibility affected him, Kohli said, “Captaincy mostly remains the same for me. Conditions don’t matter much as we have a set plan. I can’t analyse my captaincy now as I’ve not had many tough games, but if I do more captaincy I can analyse more.” Well, one would be disappointed if the Sri Lankans don’t present much of a challenge to Kohli, as the series really needs at least a little tension to make it interesting for the viewers – even for Indian supporters.
India would be without their quickest fast bowler Varun Aaron for this match. Aaron is seriously quick – he logged a top speed of 152 kmh in the match at Cuttack last week. But he has the propensity to get injured every time he makes a comeback and is back in the Indian side. This time, a leg injury has forced Aaron out of the series, and it is hoped that he would recover in time for the more important Test series in Australia as well as the World Cup 2015, where he is expected to play a crucial role for India. To succeed in Australia, India needs fast bowlers with genuine pace, and Aaron is only one of the two that India have, the other being Umesh Yadav.
Sri Lanka’s captain Angelo Mathews has been handicapped by the fact that he has a most inexperienced bowling attack, with most of his best bowlers being rested for this series. So, he definitely cannot expect his bowlers to win this series for this side and would bank heavily on the batsmen to deliver the goods. He has the prolific veterans Kumar Sangakarra, Mahela Jayawardhana and Tilekaratne Dilshan at his disposal. All three have been among the top run getters in one day cricket history, but only Mahela seems to be in form at the moment. But if any of the three, and Angelo Mathews himself, get going in a match, Sri Lanka would be a tough side to beat.
Because of their powerful batting line-up, Sri Lanka are confident of chasing any total, and so would want to bat second. India too would prefer to chase rather than setting up a score. Not surprising, because the Indian team, much like the Sri Lankans, are heavily dependent on their batsmen to win matches for them and to compensate for the weakness in the bowling. Indian batsmen such as Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina are as good as it gets in one day cricket. The Indian batting line-up is so strong that there is no place for Rohit Sharma in the playing eleven. So this promises to be a clash of batsmen, yet again, and we fully expect both sides to score over 300.
The Teams:
India: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Akshar Patel/ Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Dhawal Kulkarni
Sri Lanka: 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Ashan Priyanjan, 7 Seekkuge Prasanna, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Dhammika Prasad, 10 Suraj Randiv, 11 Suranga Lakmal
