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Minor worries for in-form India

The momentum in the series is clearly with India, who own a 2-0 lead, and their coach Gary Kirsten reckoned that his team could win matches even by playing at "60% of our ability"


Yusuf Pathan is one of several slow bowlers India have used to get through the middle overs © AFP
 
The momentum in the series is clearly with India, who own a 2-0 lead, and their coach Gary Kirsten reckoned that his team could win matches even by playing at "60% of our ability". However, there is a weakness that Sri Lanka could exploit, if they are able to get into a position from which they can strike.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has relied on a slew of part-time slow bowlers - Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Virender Sehwag - to get through the middle overs so that he can deploy his fast bowlers during the Powerplays at the start and end of the innings. He is also without his first-choice spinner, Harbhajan Singh, and needs seven-ODI-old left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha to deliver ten tight overs. As a result, India appear content to cut off the run flow during the middle overs and wait for a mistake from the batsmen.
The tactic has worked so far, with the spinners conceding only 220 in 46 overs between them, but they have taken only two wickets. It is an area that Sri Lanka can take advantage of if they make a solid start.
Kirsten is aware of the issue and puts it down to a lack of an allrounder who bowls seam. "It is a bit of a difficult situation with the make up of our team," he said. "We have three specialist seamers but we don't have an allrounder who can bat and bowl seam as well." He said that it was difficult to spare a fast bowler for the middle overs because they were needed until the 15th over at the start of the innings, and once again during the batting Powerplay at the end. Irfan Pathan is a possible option but the management has kept him on the bench so far in Sri Lanka.
Another worry for India from the second ODI is the poor utilisation of their batting Powerplay, which yielded only 14 runs for the loss of two wickets. Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan were the batsmen at the crease when it was taken but they fell and exposed the long tail, which was missing Harbhajan's plucky batting skills. India have a young allrounder, Ravindra Jadeja, among their reserves and should give him a go at some point in the series.
Apart from these two potential worries, India have been clinical in the series. Their effective handling of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis has been the catalyst for their success. India took 99 for 1off M&M in Dambulla and 76 for 2 in Colombo, and Dhoni had said that the batsmen were concentrating on denying the duo wickets by targeting the other bowlers. It remains to be seen, however, how the Indian batsmen will cope if they have to score quickly off Murali and Mendis.
"We talked about what we wanted to do and my coaching style is that each guy should work on their game," Kirsten said about the pre-series preparation for Mendis. "No video footages, it can be dangerous sometimes. We know what needed to be done. We are very clear on things we want to achieve."
It is that clarity of thought and purpose that has brought India on the verge of equalling a national record of eight consecutive ODI wins. They are on seven at the moment and the eighth, if achieved, will also wrap up a series win, something that Kirsten is keen to do in order to test the bench strength.
"The momentum is with the team, and we want to finish the series as early as possible," he said. "We have to focus on preparations and what we have been doing so far to win the matches. If we can do that things will go our way."

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo