da lvbet： New-look India take on Sri Lanka in the opening match of the Indian Oil Cup in Dambulla
da fezbet： Preview by Charlie Austin29-Jul-2005
The two D’s, Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Dhoni, are very much in the spotlight © AFP
A new season of one-day cricket on the subcontinent kicks off on Saturday inDambulla, a market town surrounded by some of Sri Lanka’s most ancientheritage sites. But while the idyllic lakeside setting harks back to thepast, drawing in tourists by the thousand each year, the tournament openerprovides a fascinating glimpse of the future, as India try to plug enormousholes in their top order and Sri Lanka experiment with a new opening partnerfor Sanath Jayasuriya.The unavailability of Sachin Tendulkar (elbow injury) for the entiretournament and Sourav Ganguly, at least for the first two games after hisICC match ban was reduced from six to four games after much legalhuffing and puffing, leaves India in new territory, as they will be shorn of 23,587 ODI runs and 618caps’-worth of experience. India have rarely missed both at the same time in thelast ten years and their absence has triggered animated debate as to thelikely shape of the new top order.The safe money is being put on VVS Laxman jumping up the order to partnerVirender Sehwag. This is the entirely sensible and boring option that willbalance the top six. But there are still many secretly hoping that theyounger and longer curls of MS Dhoni accompany Sehwag to the middle. Itwould be a high-risk but potent alliance that would have the potential forcreating major headaches for Marvan Atapattu, who will be missing ChamindaVaas and Nuwan Zoysa, his most experienced pace bowlers.While the ball is hard in the first 15 overs, India have their best chanceof stamping their authority on the game. The Sri Lankan injuries mean thatthe pace attack now has a fragile look about it: Lasith Malinga is exciting andunusual with his round-arm action, but far from polished after just fourmatches; Farveez Maharoof is struggling to find his best bowling form;Dilhara Fernando is under pressure after a long layoff; and DilharaLokuhettige, the new allrounder, is untested.In such circumstances, playing Dhoni – the one batsman to click into form onthe tour thus far – might be a gamble worth taking. But the old hands whofollow India around the world with their laptops, the people who decode theteam’s poker-faced press conference sound-bites for a living, say Dhoni is likely toappear in the middle order with Rahul Dravid, the new captain, at No. 3 andMohammad Kaif at No 4. Yuvraj Singh’s position at No. 3 in both practicegames is considered a red herring – although Greg Chappell has mentioned’flexibility’ so many times this week that we should mentally prepareourselves for the unexpected.India are also set to give an international lifeline to Jai Prakash Yadav, a30-year-old seam bowling allrounder who played the last of his two ODIsagainst West Indies in 2002. He disappeared for a couple of years but strongperformances in the 2004-05 domestic season have given him hope of a secondcoming. With Ganguly set to return for India’s third game next week, he mayneed to make an impression fast.The Dambulla pitch started its international life in 2001 as a batsmen’shellhole; the ball dancing around for the pace bowlers and spinners. But inthe years since the pitch has bedded down and runs flowed last evening whenan Atapattu XI tussled with a Jayawardene XI. However, there is enough helpfor the seamers to persuade both team’s to play three frontline quicks.India will have to choose between Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble onceagain.Sri Lanka, too, have been giving their opening combination some deepthought. Tom Moody, their new coach, has made it clear that the time hascome for more stability at the top. In the past 17 months Jayasuriya has hadfive different partners. But Sri Lanka believe that may have unearthed theanswer, Upul Tharanga, a wispy left-hander blessed with sweet timing and anarray of strokes. His classy 35 in the practice match shone with potentialand he is certain to play.The middle order has a familiar feel with Atapattu, Sangakkara andJayawardene ensconced in their normal positions. Tillakaratne Dilshan’sperky batting during the Test series against West Indies should be enoughfor him to get the nod over Russel Arnold, who has been pushing hard for arecall with stacks of runs for the A team. Upul Chandana will then occupythe pivotal No 7 position with Dilhara Lokuhettige set for debut after somelusty blows last night and a mean spell of seamers. Sri Lanka are desperateto unearth a seam bowling allrounder and he is the latest to be tried.With Muttiah Muralitharan, back to full fitness and good form during theWest Indies series, and Malinga already pencilled in then Fernandoand Farveez Maharoof will sweat over the final place. Fernando’s greatercutting edge with the ball and reputation as a wicket-taker may put his nosein front, but it’s a close-run contest because Maharoof, in his short career,has shown and cool head under a pressure and Atapattu needs strong mindswithout Vaas and Zoysa. Maharoof also offers more with the bat.Teams
Sri Lanka (likely) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Marvan Atapattu, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Upul Chandana, 8 Dilhara Lokuhettige, 9 Muttiah Muralitharan, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 LasithMalinga.India (likely) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 VVS Laxman, 3 Rahul Dravid (Capt), 4 Mohammad Kaif, 5 MS Dhoni, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Jai P Yadav, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Lakshmipathy Balaji
