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Will Sri Lanka avenge their humiliating 6-1 loss in 2005?
© GNN photo
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Sometime this morning, while driving along the Chennai-Kolkata highway to
make his way to the quite magnificent stadium on the outskirts of
Visakhapatnam, Rahul Dravid might have been reminded of the Caribbean
island of St Lucia. The thought might not have occurred with regard to the
World Cup - India's first aim, as Dravid himself has admitted, is to get
to the semi-final, with St Lucia one of the possible venues - but because
of how similar the ACA-VDCA Stadium is to the Beausejour in Gros Islet.
Set amid the scenic hills 11 kilometres away from the main city, sporting
a revamped look that can put any Indian Test venue in the shade, with a
name straight out of Nordic myth, the ACA-VDCA Stadium [Andhra Cricket
Association - Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association] is a sight to
savour. The grass isn't just lush, it's sparkling; the stands have a
sprinkling of freshness about them and the facilities, for players, fans
and the media, are in place. In the middle of a forest area, with panthers
lurking in the neighboring jungles, India and Sri Lanka will hope for a
rampaging finish to their World Cup preparations.
Who will, who won't?
India are already without Sachin Tendulkar (resting with a stiff back)
and have left out Anil Kumble and Sreesanth from the final 12. It may
come down to a choice between Irfan Pathan - who simply has to get
some match practice under his belt - and Dinesh Karthik. "Pathan has
really come through," said Dravid at the pre-match press conference. "He
has bowled full tilt at nets today to a couple of batsmen. But we will
decide about his chances of playing tomorrow's game after viewing him in
the morning practice session. Whatever we have seen at the nets today was
good."
India have three openers to choose from - Dravid was slightly amused when
asked about the specialist opener, the opener in form, and the other who
everyone wants to see opening. Having clarified who was what - Sourav
Ganguly, Robin Uthappa and Virender Sehwag - he suggested that one of them
would bat at No.3.
Mahela Jayawardene said his side didn't have any injury worries. Would
they, like India have done with Tendulkar, be resting any of their key
players for this final game? Tom Moody, the coach, shot back coolly: "We
already have a couple of them (Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas)
resting in Colombo."
World Cup build-up
How much of an effect will this match, and series even, have on India v
Sri Lanka on March 23 at Trinidad? Does winning a series in India have any
connection with the first round of the World Cup? No says Greg Chappell, the India coach ("This will be forgotten by the time we get there"), no says Jayawardene
("Different venue, different country, different conditions"), and no says
Dravid ("The World Cup is in the back of our mind but the immediate
priority is to win the game and series").
Sri Lanka haven't yet announced their 12 but one would think they would
want to fine-tune their combination for the World Cup. Jayawardene hasn't
crossed 50 in
16 innings (since June 2006) and Upul Tharanga hasn't yet
fired in this series. They'd dearly like to pull off a win tomorrow as a
series triumph without Vaas and Murali would be quite an achievement,
especially after having been
walloped 6-1
against a full-strength Indian side in
2005.
Dravid's proud record
Dravid is yet to lose a bilateral series at home. Starting from October
2005, when he took over the reins, he's triumphed against Sri Lanka (both
one-dayers and Tests), England (one-dayers) and West Indies (one-dayers).
Apart from these, he's drawn series against South Africa (one-dayers) and
England (Tests). No points for guessing his first priority tomorrow. The
World Cup can wait.
Teams
India (likely) 1 Sourav Ganguly, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Robin
Uthappa, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Rahul Dravid (capt), 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer
Khan, 11 Munaf Patel.
Sri Lanka (likely) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Mahela
Jayawardene (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6
Russel Arnold, 7 Farveez Maharoof, 8 Nuwan Kulasekera, 9 Malinga Bandara,
10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Dilhara Fernando
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is staff writer of Cricinfo