Sri Lanka seek to salvage some pride

[Ashok]

If one were to go by the ICC one-day rankings, this series has seen a struggling David maul a Golliath on the roll. To have begun the series as the second ranked team and to then have to endure defeat after crushing defeat has left the Sri Lankans somewhat flat. Atapattu explained how it is doubly hard to beat an opponent who has seized the momentum: "South Africa were in a similar situation when we beat them 5-0. Whatever we tried worked. Even the part-timers won us matches."

Even at Ahmedabad, when India were so light on bowling ammunition, Sri Lanka were stretched to the limit and the implosion at Rajkot was a sort of debacle that can leave a side completely deflated. Now they need to summon every ounce of fuel to get through the last game of the series at Baroda, try and snatch a win, forget about the last few weeks and then return for the Test series stronger and wiser. When they were 0-4 down in the series, Mahela Jayawardene spoke about how they would approach the last three games as if it was another three-match series. With that logic, this is their final.

Murali and Maharoof unlikely

It is very unlikely that Sri Lanka will risk playing both Muttiah Muralitharan and Farveez Maharoof for the game. Regarding Murali, Kumar Sangakkara said, "He's always willing to play but it's important to look at how to handle him right throughout. We need to take the long-term plans into consideration." Maharoof sustained an injury while bowling in the previous game and Sangakkara added that he had four sutures between his thumb and forefinger. "The physio is monitoring him and we haven't yet taken a final decision."

For India, Gautam Gambhir, who had a slight fever for the last few days, was left out and Jai Prakash Yadav, recalled to the squad recently, will also not get a chance tomorrow. The ground, which was flooded two months back, looked in top shape on the eve of the game and the curator predicted that it was a "280 pitch". And like most of the pitches in this series, which have been lop-sided towards the batsmen, this one too adheres to the Ivan Lendl principle - grass is meant for cows.

Out-run, out-thought

Sri Lanka have been exposed in several areas - including poor shot selection and spinners not being able to come to grips with the conditions - but they've faltered on two more basic counts. The fielding has plummeted and the team, as Atapattu himself admitted, has struggled to come to terms with the Powerplay rule. While the first can be attributed to the low morale in the side, and considered an aberration, the second is probably a more serious concern. For long, Sri Lanka turned games in the middle overs as their bowlers followed a set template to choke the opposition. India have not only out-run them in the field, but they have out-thought them with the strategies used in the Powerplay. Winning these two minor battles at Baroda will be a big step in their path to redemption. However, nothing will come easy as India seek to maintain all the impetus ahead of another important series - a five-match rubber against South Africa, who, ironically, are presently the second-best side in the world.

Welcome to Pathan country

Baroda awaits as Pathan gears up for his home debut. Auto-rickshaw drivers have dropped him to nets, shop owners have seen him play in the gullies, waiters in restaurants rattle off his favourite dishes, the mosque where he grew up is one of the most famous landmarks, and teenage girls emphatically state that he is "our Irfan" irrespective of what the rest of the girls in the country think. "But he may be rested," says one of the journalists to get the reaction from a bevy of young ladies. The reply is tinged with outrage: "Then the stadium will be empty and we will also rest at home."

Teams

India (probable) 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Yuvraj Singh, 4 Rahul Dravid (capt), 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Murali Kartik, 11 Rudra Pratap Singh, Supersub: Suresh Raina

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 3 Upul Tharanga, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Russel Arnold, 8 Dilhara Lokuhettige, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Nuwan Zoysa, 11 Dilhara Fernando, Supersub: Thilan Samaraweera.