Sport

Crucial match for India and Sri Lanka

— Photo: AFP

NO WORRIES: Sri Lankan paceman Lasith Malinga, who could prove a handful on the Adelaide track, shares a joke with his teammates during training on Monday.

Adelaide: India has a major selection issue to resolve ahead of its critical clash against Sri Lanka here on Tuesday. Should the side play five specialist bowlers or opt for an extra batsman?

The fifth bowler, Munaf Patel, bowled with rhythm and control in his comeback game against Australia at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. There is an element of bounce in the pitch and Munaf could be handy. Sehwag, on the other hand, has recovered well from a side strain and could be effective in an arena with short square boundaries.

He made a delightful hundred here in the final Test this summer. Sehwag batted without showing any signs of discomfort on Monday.

The Indian attack appeared threatening against the Aussies and pressure was maintained throughout the innings. Crucially, India had bowlers who could strike in the middle overs.

Logically, if six batsmen cannot accomplish the job, the chances are that the seventh may not either. In any case, Robin Uthappa is batting too low down the order to make a difference.

Dhoni declared on Sunday night that the out-of-form Yuvraj Singh would play all the games and the statement complicates the selection issue. As vice-captain Yuvraj is part of the team-management but batsmen should be played on form and not reputation.

The Indian team’s lengthy team meeting on Monday indicated the importance of the match. The message coming through was that the batsmen should take more responsibility. There were also rumours about the IPL and the contracts issue being discussed flying around.

At the moment it does seem increasingly likely that Uthappa might lose his spot in the eleven. There could be a change in this line of thinking on the morning of the match; the chances of Munaf making way for Sehwag cannot be ruled out.

However, in terms of balance, India appears a better unit with five bowlers. Irfan Pathan lower down the order is a handy batsman and there is no reason why the Indians should dump the five-bowler theory.

When asked about the composition of the eleven on Sunday night, Dhoni was non-committal. He conceded, though, that the attacked looked cohesive with five bowlers.

The news from the Indian camp is that skipper Dhoni has recovered well from a bout of cramps that hampered his running between the wickets on Sunday.

Considering the Australian bowling has proved too good for the two sub-continental sides, the India-Sri Lanka games assume much significance. India has eight points from five matches and Sri Lanka six from four.

The face-off between Ishant Sharma and Kumar Sangakkara could have a major bearing on the contest. Ishant has bowled with controlled hostility and his stock ball — one that leaves the left-hander — can be extremely effective against the southpaw.

The young paceman has been sensational in this campaign and bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad said he did not remember any Indian pacemen clocking a speed of 153 kmph.

This said any of the top four Sri Lankan batsmen could script a match-winning innings. Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillekeratne Dilshan and skipper Mahela Jayawardene are all capable batsmen.

The side winning the toss is bound to bat and, from the Sri Lankan perspective, Lasith Malinga’s speed, lift, and swing could be critical to its chances.

The Lankan bowling should be strengthened by the return of the pacey Ishara Amerasinghe who has recovered from a side strain. Nuwan Kulasekara could find himself omitted. The Lankans are likely to continue with the five-bowler theory.

The teams (from): India: M.S. Dhoni (captain), S. Tendulkar, V. Sehwag, G. Gambhir, R. Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, I. Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, I. Sharma, S. Sreesanth, M. Patel, R. Uthappa, D. Karthik, M. Tiwary, P. Kumar, S. Raina, P. Chawla.

Sri Lanka: M. Jayawardene (captain), S. Jayasuriya, T. Dilshan, K. Sangakkara, C. Silva, K. Kapugedera, F. Maharoof, C. Vaas, L. Malinga, M. Muralitharan, I. Amerasinghe, N. Kulasekara.

Umpires: Tony Hill & Peter Parker. Third umpire: Bob Parry. Match referee: Jeff Crowe.

Match starts at 8.45 a.m. IST.

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