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INDIA TO WIN AGAINST LANKA?

Though Cricket has always been a game of glorious uncertainities and predictions are extremely difficult, India should win the triangular Series Cup against Sri Lanka in the final to be played on Saturday at Sri Lanka.

No, I did not ask Octopus Paul, but they have the capacity to do it even though India’s batsmen, apart from M S.Dhoni and Virender Sehwag, have so far failed in their performance in this tournament.

As of now Dinesh Kartik, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma can be said to be the failures of this tournament as they do not have any worthwhile contribution in the matches which have been played so far. Yuvraj Singh’s performance is also under the scanner, even though he had scored a paltry 38 in the match against Sri Lanka.

They are, however getting lot of support and encouragement from their seniors.

So far it has been Virendra Sehwag who has been providing the fireworks on which team India has won two of the league matches. But the law of averages will catch on these players also and they are likely to perform on Saturday in the final.

Batsmen have the habit of needlessly fishing outside the off stump and getting out, being caught in the slip cordon. They have to be very careful in their shot selection and they must realise that losing wickets in the first 10 to 12 overs slows down the scoring rate and becomes difficult for the later batsmen to accelerate it.

In fact, to get a good total at the end of the 50th over, India should target the first 100 runs within the first 15 overs and take due benefit of the field placements during the first two power-plays.

If they play confidently and see off the first 10-15 overs, it becomes easier for the players to bat freely and also gives added confidence to those who come in later. It deserves mention here that the Kokaburra ball also gets a bit palpable and can be hit around with ease.

In the matches played so far, India have managed approximately 50 runs in the first 15 overs and given away 3 to 5 wickets in the bargain, which will not serve the purppose in  tomorrow’s final with Sri Lanka. As it is, Yuvraj Singh has still not found his rhythm and his performance, is also a concern for Gary Kirsten. 

Even though Dhoni has said that he is not overly concerned about his teams batting but they have actually scored 103 and 83 runs in the previous two encounters which is not, by any standards, a winning total.

This could well be the last chance for Kohli and Rohit to press for a permanent place in the side, as senior batsmen including Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir could return to the one-day team for the home series against Australia in October.

Hopefully, the first six batsmen have to put up a good show and pile up 270 to 280 runs, if they win the toss, which also will be a crucial factor tomorrow.

Ravi Matah.