India await tough Lanka test in ODI series

Wednesday, 8 February 2012 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Plagued by poor batting form for long, a jittery India will need to strike the right combination and lift the standard of their game as they strive to bring their ODI tri-series campaign back on track when they take on Sri Lanka at WACA on Wednesday.

India let Australia off the hook in the opening match in Melbourne and missing out on an opportunity in Wednesday’s crucial clash would make the job very tough for them.

India had opted to ‘rest’ Virender Sehwag in the first match and the team management has indicated that the dashing opener will come back into the team at the expense of a top order batsman. India’s bowling line-up is sure to have a new look on a bouncy WACA pitch. It would be not be prudent to include a spin-based attack. Either Ravinder Jadeja or Ravichandran Ashwin, or both, could make way for Umesh Yadav and possibly Zaheer Khan. In Australia, the two teams have clashed five times and India has an advantage of 2-1 over their southern neighbours, with two matches finishing with no result. India still feels the pain of their last visit to WACA in December 2011 when they lost the third Test to Australia in two and a half days by an innings margin. Its record at this venue though isn’t too bad. It has won three games and lost five matches since 1980 when it first played New Zealand in a triangular and won by five runs.

The fast outfield and less-than a steepling bounce enables big scores to be managed at this ground. Five wins each in the last 10 ODIs between the two sides might suggest an even battle between two sub-continental teams but ever so quietly, the young brigade has begun to make headlines for Sri Lanka in the last few months.