Sri Lanka Tour of India ODI Series Preview

After battling it out in the longest and shortest forms of the game, the two Asian giants India and Sri Lanka take on each other in a set of 5 One Day Internationals starting Tuesday, 15th December in Rajkot. Both T20 matches provided tons of entertainment and anxiety, as more than 800 runs were scored over the two match days. Both teams performed magnificently with the bat but the bowling and fielding was suspect as the sides made some horrendous errors on the field. The ODI series may just depend on who comes up with the consistency on the field rather than on the pitch and both teams would surely be looking to improve in the above mentioned departments.

SQUADS:

INDIA (only for first and second ODI): MS Dhoni (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Sudeep Tyagi, Virat Kohli.

SRI LANKA: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Chamara Kapugedera, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Thilina Kandamby, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis.

LOCKEROOM INSIGHT:

INDIA Influential and in-form bowler S Sreesanth has tested positive for Swine Flu. The paceman from Kerala was in inspiring form through the test series including a man of the match performance in the second test. Indian fans can thank their lucky stars that opener Gautam Gambhir tested negative on Saturday. Team manager Mayank Parekh and video analyst Dhananjay also returned testing negative for the disease. Another reason for home fans to be happy is the return of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh to spearhead a bowling attack that has been rather toothless without them. Sachin Tendulkar is back to bolster the batting lineup which seems dominant to say the least. Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra will play key roles in the supporting cast, with the former especially impressive with both bat and ball in the series against Australia. India will probably be without the services of Yuvraj Singh for the 1st ODI, with the big hitting batsman nursing a finger injury. He is, however, expected to recover in time to feature in the rest of the series.

India are 2nd in the world rankings behind Australia and there is a lot of incentive for winning this series for the hosts.

SRI LANKA The Lankans were overwhelmed by India’s batting in the 2nd T20 at Mohali, but have looked more than a match for the home side with the bat. Thilan Samaraweera is back, a wall in his own right, bringing further solidity to the Lankan middle order. Muttiah Muralidharan and Ajanta Mendis should also feature ODIs after being relegated to the bench in the T20s, and are added options for the middle overs as the Lions look to stem the flow of runs. It was however their fielding that let the Lankans down in Mohali, as the number of missed run-out opportunities went beyond simple mental math. The Lankans are shockingly 7th in the ICC rankings, definitely not an apt evaluation of what is a very well balanced Lankan side. They will look to correct that anomaly, however it doesn’t get much more difficult than facing India in its own backyard.

FORM GUIDE: The hosts are coming off a closely fought ODI series against Australia at home. The series ended 4-2 in favor of the world’s best team though India gave a brilliant account of how much they have grown as a unit. India have had a brilliant year with series victories in New Zealand, the Caribbean and even Sri Lanka. The hosts are favourites to beat the Lankans at home and further emphasize their status as a top side in the International Cricket scene.

The visitors last played a tri-nation tournament at home against India and New Zealand. The Lankans dominated both the round robin games in the Compaq Cup held in September but failed to come up with the goods against India in the final. They then went over to South Africa for the Champions Trophy and were drubbed by Pakistan and England after an excellent start to the tournament. Hopefully the Lions will bring their ‘A game’ to the field this time around.

GROUNDS AND FIXTURES:

1st ODI (15 December) Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground, Rajkot India last played England in 2008 at Rajkot and managed to give them quite a beating. India compiled a monstrous 387 for 5 on the day and bundled out England for 229 in less than 40 overs. It’s a day game at Rajkot and the moisture in the early morning air will definitely help the bowlers. India have played 10 and won 5 at this venue and history is definitely not pointing towards a one-sided Indian victory.

2nd ODI (18 December) Vishakhapatnam shifted to Nagpur Sadly the 2nd ODI in the series has been shifted from Andhra Pradesh due to the deteriorating security conditions in the state. This means that India and Sri Lanka head back to Nagpur, the same venue of their first T20 international on 9th December. The Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha also recently hosted its first ever ODI in the India – Australia series, with the hosts piling on 354/7 on the back of an excellent century from MS Dhoni. India won the game by 99 runs with Praveen Kumar doing the damage early on and Ravindra Jadeja running through the middle order.

3rd ODI (21 December) Barabati Stadium, Cuttack Orissa’s premier stadium has hosted 14 ODI’s since 1982. The last match held here was another India – England clash in 2008 with India chasing down a target of 273 with almost 7 overs to spare. The stadium is also the venue were Kapil Dev took his 300th test wicket. India have played 12 ODI’s on this ground and have won 8 of them.

4th ODI (24 December) Eden Gardens, Kolkata The mammoth 90,000 seater stadium (officially) is as renowned as Lords and has witnessed cricket’s most awe-inspiring moments. It is said that “a cricketer’s cricketing education is not complete till he has played in front of a packed Eden Gardens”. India has failed to win in the last 3 games played at the venue. One hopes that a stadium of its stature witnesses a game of high quality and amazement. Both previous matches between India and Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens remained unfinished. The semi-final at the 1996 World Cup saw India bow out of the tournament due to crowd riots. The last match between India and Sri Lanka ended due to rain.

5th ODI (27 December) Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi One of India’s oldest and historically rich stadiums Feroz Shah Kotla has been the hub of national cricket for a long time now. India last played Australia at this venue a few weeks back and managed to pick up a victory thanks to half centuries by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. India has won 8 out of the 13 ODIs it has played on the ground. It will surely be a mouth-watering encounter even if this Delhi fortress isn’t the venue for the series decider.

Prediction: As my T20 prediction was spot on, I seem to have confidence in myself to make the bold prediction that the hosts will win 4-1.