Cricket fraternities here in India are occupied with their celebrations after the team India clinched its Asia cup after 15 long years. It has been a good and quick climb up the ladder after the disappointing Zimbabwe tour. Team India played their heart out in every department of the sport and outclassed every other Asian team, I would say. And generally the litmus test for accessing every team’s patience and depth in their attack will be a five Day Test game. Test cricket is a different ball game altogether and Team India will face a tough challenge playing a test series against SriLanka after playing an array of one day games. The SriLankans will be looking forward to capitalize on the ‘home ground’ advantage. Also since SriLankans record at home is quite convincing it will again end in favor of the Singhalese and give them a high.
This series comes sandwiching the Asia cup and the upcoming triangular series between India-New Zealand and SriLanka. The Champions in test will face the much competitive and spirited SriLankans and in SriLanka. I think it will be very apt to begin with the possible scenario in the fight for top spot. The situation is so intriguing that it is impossible not to speculate. Both the teams have a very powerful and an impressive batting lineup, a good and solid middle order and a good tail which can amass some valuable runs on the board. While both teams have a bright chance to grab the top spot the chances of Australia making it back to the top too cannot be ruled out. I’m very excited to see how the games shape up and what the standings will be after this short, yet interesting season.
Team India will be all smiles with their dashing opener Virender Sehwag making his comeback in this series after he was injured early this year. It’s high time Gautham Gambhir get back to his form assisting his senior partner upfront. And after a series of failures, Yuvraj Singh should be happy to grab his place in the middle order. The batting will continue to be as lustrous as ever even as the famous trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman enter the twilight of their careers. The amount of contribution we have seen from elite cricketers to the likes of Dravid and Tendulkar has been awe-inspiring and commendable. Even in their mid 30’s they seem to give the game a new dimension and their hundred percent every time they come on the field. Yet another promising player, Suresh Raina is on a dream run and hopefully he will continue to display his confident and punching strokes getting as many runs as possible on the board. This will be the Dhoni’s first game after his wedding and it remains to be seen whether his lady will bring in some luck and whether he is still the man with the Midas touch. Also the bench strength is going one notch higher with the much experienced Subramaniam Badrinath and handy Murali Vijay being the front runners to fill the batting slots should there be any vacancy due to one reason or the other. Wriddhiman Saha will be the back-up wicketkeeper and he must be waiting to cash in on opportunity given to him to prove his batting and glove skills and there is always a Harbhajan Singh to give us the entertainment and keep the scoreboard ticking in the end overs. Looks a good batting up, which is capable of ripping the Lankan attack.
The bowling department looks fresh with Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma getting a nod for this series. Both of them have been out of action for quite a time due to injury and now it will be interesting to see how both of them adapt to the SriLankan wickets. Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan will miss out this series due to an injury and this will be a big blow to Dhoni and his men for sure. However, Abhimanyu Mithun will replace the much experienced fast bowler. The spin trio comprises of the high energy Harbhajan Singh along with Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha. India’s strength in bowling will be their spin when we take the conditions in SriLanka into consideration. Dhoni will also be chipping in Sehwag, Raina and Yuvi in the middle overs as the part timers seem to have a good day with the ball.
It’s a home ground performance test for the SriLankans. It will be very interesting to see who their openers will be with now even Paranavitana joining the squad. Their skipper Sangakkara seems to be in a fine nick. His ability to play both the attacking and defensive strokes to near perfection keeps him amongst the runs. Mahela Jayawardena is also in a good form and his slow transition to a hitter is getting obvious and this five day game will be a good test to his patience and stroke adaptability. Dilshan will again be looking to free his arms and go over the top, his natural ability. It remains to be seen how well he is able to perform the balancing act. The middle order will be quite stable with players like Thilan Samaraweera and Angelo Mathews to shift gears. Thilina Kandamby is yet again another player who can play the anchor innings.
As far as the bowling department is concerned, they will rely on the pace trio of Dilhara Fernando, Dammika Prasad and Chanaka Welegedara. Fernando seems to have got that experience to pitch the ball on the right places. Walegedara also is getting the ball to do that extra swing and bounce. Their lead spinners will be Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath while Suraj Randiv will be the additional specialist spinner.
This series will India's big chance to keep their newly acquired numero uno slot but the Lankans will be keen to give it a fight and take revenge against the Asia Cup Champions. All in all, the stage is set for a pretty interesting tussle on the cards over the next few months with even the World Cup around the corner. Let’s keep our Fingers crossed and may the Cricketing action take over. So any octopuses out there,. predicting the outcome of this series??
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