Call it a master turnaround! No many gave India a chance on the one day series against Sri Lanka after the dismal Test series when the combination of Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan tarnished the reputation of the fab four. Yet India is back at the Premadasa Stadium today trying to close out the series and dish one back to Sri Lanka in their own backyard!
It would be preposterous to think that India will get ahead and win this one handsomely. But India have shown a little more chutzpah where Sri Lanka have shown a surprisingly lack of innovation. Their batting does not show quite the some fortitude with Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara woefully short on runs. Mahela Jayawardene has continued to put this hand up in crisis. But if the batting slips up again, even Jayawardene may be finding the going hard. Sri Lanka have hit a trough and now they are in danger of losing another home series as they did against England. Really they have failed to find answers in the one day arena since the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean and although Ajantha Mendis won them the Asia Cup final, the monkey seems to have slipped off India’s back.
The Indians need not be overly jubilant either. Their batting was only a touch better than the Sri Lankans in the previous two matches. And while everyone thinks the threat of Mendis has been tamed, rather it has been tapered to an extent by the grit of Mahendra Singh Dhoni along with his one day specialists who flew into Sri Lanka with him. Defending was never Dhoni’s strong point – whether at the crease or in front of the microphone. Instead his forthrightness is paying off on the field and if only the likes of Yuvraj Singh can overcome their circumspect approach, India can expect more runs.
But while Sri Lanka have relied heavily on the Mendis threat, India are showing a rather unique shift from spin to pace. Of course, much of it has been forced upon them with their spinners unable to come to the fore and that India has better depth in the pace department. Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar were responsible in both of the Indian victories in the one day series for Sri Lanka’s dismal batting performance that allowed a struggling Indian batting line up to push through.
Yet again the toss will play a major factor. There was perceptible help for the fast bowlers under lights and the decision upon winning the toss seems pretty obvious and perhaps that is one risk Dhoni will not take should he win one here. Now if only the rain can stay away.