Sri Lanka are a proud cricketing nation. They’ve never come as close to being humiliated as they were in the last match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Sri Lanka made 253 runs in response to India’s score of 404. A big margin of defeat, indeed. What made it worse was that just one Indian player, Rohit Sharma, scored even more than all the 11 players of the Sri Lankan team. Sharma made 264 – the biggest score in the history of one day cricket. Nobody has seen anything quite like that.
Almost every Indian batsman has made merry against the Sri Lankan attack, Sharma only had more fun than the others. Shikhar Dhawan has got two hundreds from three matches, Ajinkya Rahane has made a hundred, so has Ambati Rayudu. Indian batting has never looked so formidable. Which is stunning because only a few months ago in England, the same side was down and out and really low on confidence.
India’s batting coach, Sanjay Bangar has tried to explain this stupendous performance from his men, saying, “The reason that we have done so well in the matches since the England tour is that our batsmen have managed to go onto a big score. Seven hundreds already we’ve seen being scored, and they’re all from different batsmen.”
While Indian fans have had a lot of fun, the only issue in this series has been the lack of fight shown by the Sri Lankans. The lack of a genuine opposition has put a dampener on the all the record batting performances of the Indian players. Surely, they have simply not been challenged enough? Perhaps things will be more competitive against Australia, who they face next, in December.
But you can only play the opposition you’ve got, and Indians cannot be blamed for this abject performance from the Sri Lankans. This series has simply killed off the India – Sri Lanka contest for ever. Nobody would take Sri Lanka seriously again if they are to face India. Indians are simply too good for the Sri Lankans, and as the cliché goes, Indians have their number.
What can Sri Lanka hope for in today’s match, to be played at Indian captain M S Dhoni’s home ground of Ranchi in Jharkhand? Well, more of the same. Flat, virtually dead pitches, that are a pace bowlers’ graveyard. This is simply an open invitation to Rohit Sharma to score a triple hundred. Who is to bet against that, given what we’ve seen in this series so far? Certainly, not us.
Team News
For Indians, there seems to be an injury cloud over fast bowler Umesh Yadav’s fitness as he looked unfit in the last match and was down on pace. Dhawal Kulkarni did well in the last game, but we are not sure he is the answer to India’s pace problems as he is not really that quick a bowler. Suresh Raina is likely to be rested and Kedhar Jadhav may make his debut. Rest of the team picks itself and young Axar Patel has been a terrific new find for India.
For Sri Lanka, Lahiru Thirimanne did his credentials no harm at all with a well made knock of 59 in the last game, when the whole batting order collapsed around him. He may be picked in place of Kushal Perera as an opener as Perera has failed on far too many occasions.
India: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Kedhar Jadav, 6 Robin Uthappa (wk), 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Akshar Patel, 9 Karn Sharma/R Ashwin, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Umesh Yadav
Sri Lanka: 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Seekkuge Prasanna, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Ajantha Mendis/Chaturanga de Silva, 11 Shaminda Eranga
Watch the match live on Star Sports this Sunday at 1:30 PM.
