Men in Blues ready for final battle

With their places in the final earned, India and Sri Lanka will face off, like they have done so many times in the recent past, with another chance to learn who has understood the opposition better. Bangladesh were never going to be a real threat and the tri-series has expectedly turned out to practically be a two-team tournament.

There is nothing much to choose between the two sides but India will enter the final with better momentum having won their last three matches in a row. However hard the two camps want to dismiss the toss factor, the spin of coin will have a huge role to play. After all, the last 11 games in this venue have been won by the team batting first.

The final will be the 30th ODI to be staged at this venue of which, only once has a team ended on the wining side when defending a target under lights.

The biggest issue around the game is opener Virender Sehwag. The team management confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the opener and he was only being rested. Sehwag not featuring in the reserves list caused a few murmurs but according to the playing conditions, it’s not mandatory to list the names of all the reserves.

The Indian top-order has been running well. Virat Kohli (273 runs) has been the stand-out batsman. The youngster has grabbed his chances well while the same cannot be said about Dinesh Karthik who looked fluent in both the knocks but failed to capitalise.

M.S. Dhoni has been his usual assured self while Suresh Raina has done nothing wrong. The only cause of concern could be the form of Yuvraj Singh who has twice fallen playing inside the line.

Zaheer Khan’s form would have gladdened Dhoni. The senior bowler produced an inspired first spell against Sri Lanka in the league game. A lot will depend on how well he shapes up, especially if India get the advantage of bowling first. Ashish Nehra and S. Sreesanth have tried hard but the conditions here have not allowed them to be effective. But the team would only be better served with a bit more discipline in line and length.

With Yuvraj and Ravindra Jadeja getting the job done in the middle overs, Amit Misha is likely to make way for Harbhajan Singh.

Sri Lanka will also ride on their batting strength. In Kumar Sangakkara and T.M. Dilshan, they have two batsmen in red-hot form. Upul Tharanga and Mahela Jayawardene add balance and if India are forced to defend, they will have a huge task on hand.

The Lankan attack has appeared jaded. They could have also been guilty of trying too many things in plumb batting conditions. Chanaka Welegedera is developing the knack of wickets while Suraj Randiv has been the most effective. His high arm action helps extract bounce and India need to be watchful against him. India enjoy a better record against the islanders in neutral venues, winning 31 of 51 games.