India need to be wary of Aravinda de Silva

Sunny days are here again for Indian cricket with the senior batsmen in fine nick and the bowlers doing a remarkably good job so far. By winning five matches on the trot, Sourav Ganguly's men have convinced most experts in South Africa that they deserve to be placed immediately behind Australia in the title race.

The fortunes of the Indian team have always been tied to the success of their batsmen. When they fail, India loses its confidence and usually the match too. Fortunately, then, two key batsmen - Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh - are both enjoying a rich vein of form. They will, I reckon, hold the key on Monday too. Sourav Ganguly's feet have also started moving very well and his latest hundred must have done his confidence a world of good.

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There have, though, been some less-than-flattering comments about Virender Sehwag. Let us not forget that Sehwag isn't someone who will play a long innings. He is rather a swashbuckling opener and it is in the interest of the team that he plays his natural attacking game. When he fires, and he should soon, he shall definitely provide the team a blistering start - one capable of deciding the outcome of the match even.

Anyhow, I don't see India ringing in any changes, as they would not like to disturb the winning combination that has been forged. Sending Mohammad Kaif at No 4 also seems a sound policy. This will be particularly useful against a team like Sri Lanka, who are bound to employ their slower bowlers in the crucial middle overs. India would need batsmen who can rotate the strike at such a juncture and Kaif is indeed the ideal man for that kind of a job.

With India's batting being in such tremendous form, Sri Lanka might struggle to get the breakthroughs, as they have only two quality bowlers in Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. Both the men are likely to be hampered by the fact that Indian batsmen might adopt a policy of constant vigil against them, preferring instead to amass as many runs as possible in the remaining 30 overs.

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When it comes to the Indian fielding, I don't think one should read too much into the dropped catches against Kenya. I am sure that the whole team will prove up to the task against Sri Lanka.

The bowlers, meanwhile, will be helped by the fact that Sanath Jayasuriya would probably miss the game. This provides them with a golden chance to attack the Sri Lankan top order. If they can claim Marvan Atapattu early, then, the others too are likely to fall quickly.

The Sri Lankan middle order has been a major disappointment and I don't find any reason to believe that things would get any better for them come Monday. The one man who can gatecrash an Indian party, though, is the ageing warhorse Aravinda de Silva. It is quite amazing to see that he has been able to sustain his hunger for runs even towards the fag end of what has certainly been an illustrious career. If our bowlers were to err in length, you can bank on Aravinda to pull and cut Sri Lanka to safety. But that said, we are a stronger team on paper and there is no reason why we should let that pass at Johannesburg.