India aim to emerge from trough
February 07, 2012 11:38:38 UK
Having won the World Cup and being the current holders of the Commonwealth Bank Trophy, India should be the favourites for the current tournament in Australia.
However, having been blown away by Australia in the opening game and struggling on the current tour, Duncan Fletcher's men need a timely boost when they play Sri Lanka in the second game.
India are 1.61 to win the match while Sri Lanka can be backed at 2.30.
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Virender Sehwag looks set for a recall, probably at the expense of Gautam Gambhir, which will mean that Sehwag and MS Dhoni will be playing in the same team for the first time since last year's World Cup final.
Ravindra Jadeja's bowling was slaughtered in the opener and Irfan Pathan will add more devil to the attack and explosive batting to the lower order so is expected to play. Vinay Kumar did well but Zaheer Khan could well be brought in to open the attack in the place of Ishant Sharma.
Probably the only team in more disarray than India are Sri Lanka, but at least they should be able to welcome back fit-again Mahela Jayawardene to strengthen the batting. He looks set to replace Lahiru Thirimanne although Angelo Mathews' form is awful at the moment.
The outcome could be decided in the early exchanges as Lasith Malinga may blow away India's top order but, if they can post a total, Sri Lanka's batting is also fragile at the moment.
If Malinga is the top bowler at 2.37, Sri Lanka should win. Their runs may come from their out-of-form opener Tillakaratne Dilshan although Dinesh Chandimal should like the extra bounce for his exuberant shots. For India, Virat Kohli with the bat and Zaheer Khan with the ball at 4.00, will be key to their chances.
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