da betsul： Sri Lanka, always formidableopponents on their own soil, start as favourites
da gbg bet： Dileep Premachandran in Colombo15-Aug-2006
The Sri Lankan stalwarts, including Jayasuriya and Muralitharan, are in such fine fettle as to give opponents nightmares © Getty Images
After Monday’s curtain-raiser that never was, Sri Lanka and India willattempt to breathe some life into the Unitech Cup at the Premadasa Stadiumon Wednesday, though another heavy downpour late on Tuesday evening wasperhaps a portent of what lay ahead. Sri Lanka, always formidableopponents on their own soil, start as favourites, but Rahul Dravidinsisted that the constant talk of security over the past 24 hours hadn’tbeen preying on the minds of his players. “For others, the focus mighthave gone off cricket, but as far as we’re concerned, it’s always been onit.”It will need to be, because India’s record in Sri Lanka is nothing to crowabout. The hosts have won 19 of 33 matches, with India victorious only onnine occasions. At the Premadasa, the record is even more skewed, with SriLanka prevailing on 12 occasions to India’s five. The past though countsfor little these days, with India having given Pakistan a 4-1 hammeringacross the border and Sri Lanka humiliating England 5-0 less than twomonths ago.For the Indians, the return of Sachin Tendulkar, who last wore thesky-blue one-day kit at Multan in February, is a massive boost, and heappeared in excellent touch when the team practised at the Premadasa onTuesday afternoon. The batting order otherwise picks itself, though feverand a bad cold kept Mohammad Kaif away from practice. In the event of himfailing to recover, Suresh Raina or Dinesh Mongia will come into themiddle order.The bowling selection won’t be quite as straightforward. Normally, thePremadasa has a spin-friendly reputation, but with so much rain havingfallen over the past few days, both teams could go in with pace-heavyattacks. With India having Virender Sehwag, Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh toshare the slow-bowling burden with Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar may haveto sit out, with Sreesanth and Munaf Patel bolstering the new-ball pairingof Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar.Sri Lanka, after their romp through England, have no such selectionconundrums. Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga have been in dazzling format the top of the order, while Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara areenjoying the sort of purple patches that can best be described asfrightening for opponents, and the exuberant hitting of TillakaratneDilshan and Chamara Kapugedera is usually required only to apply thefinishing touches.Traditionally, Sri Lanka have triumphed with spin at the Premadasa, but inthese wet conditions, they too might leave out the legspin of MalingaBandara in favour of the X-factor pace of Lasith Malinga. MuttiahMuralitharan will doubtless be the main threat, come rain or shine, andhow the Indian batsmen cope with the questions he poses in the middleovers might well dictate the outcome of the game.SquadsIndia (likely): 1 Rahul Dravid (capt), 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 IrfanPathan, 4 Virender Sehwag, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 MahendraSingh Dhoni (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Sreesanth, 11Munaf Patel.Sri Lanka (likely): 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 MahelaJayawardene (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6Chamara Kapugedera, 7 Farveez Maharoof, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 DilharaFernando, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11. Lasith Malinga.
