Sri Lanka will have one last chance to keep the series alive with victory
Suresh Raina (right) and Umesh Yadav during a training session at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. (Photo: P. Surendra)
Hyderabad: The Indian team are harping on highs while their Sri Lankan counterparts sulk over insufficient preparation coming into the series. The visitors, down 0-2 in the five-match contest, have one last chance on Sunday to keep the hurriedly arranged engagement alive. It is hurtling towards an early closure. The fact that the Sri Lankans cannot afford another slip at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium and would go for broke provides the spark that keeps the fire among fans burning after the first two games turned heavily one-sided in the hosts’ favour.
The game is an emotional one on many counts though. For the in-form Rayudu, it will be a homecoming of sorts, for it is in this city that Indian cricket’s latest centurion has learnt his ropes before dabbling with different denominations ahead of switching allegiance to his current state side of Baroda. However, for all practical purposes, Hyderabad has to be Rayudu’s home. He lives here.
There are others in the Indian camp who too would feel very much at home at the RGICS. Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra are all part of the Indian Premier League’s Hyderabad franchise, the Sunrisers.There’s quite a camaraderie in the opposition camp too. Kumar Sangakkara and Thisara Perera have a strong connect with the ground, having turned up for the Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
With India holding a handsome lead, leg-spinner Mishra would be hoping for an opportunity to bowl on the track on which he has often traumatised opposition batsmen.India clearly have an allround edge having raced to an impressive lead. The batting certainly looks super strong with the top three having hit centuries already. Dhawan, Rayudu and Rahane lead the aggregates with Rayudu topping the averages thanks to his unbeaten 121 in the last game.
A look down further is only frightening from the visitors’ point of view. The versatile Virat Kohli, the shrewd Suresh Raina and a robust Ravindra Jadeja is not a middle order bowlers would fancy their chances against, moreso when they have collectively managed just nine wickets in two games.That would mean captain Angelo Mathews has a mammoth challenge of motivating his mediocre attack to square up to the marauding Men in Blue.
On the batting front, Sri Lanka oozes experience though. Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga are seasoned willow-wielders backed by good allrounders in Mathews and Perera. But they would do well to remember that India’s new ball bowlers have had it good so far. Ishant, Umesh Yadav and Axar Patel have all taken four wickets each, an encouraging sign that implies healthy competition among them. On Sunday, this hostile trio would love to have a ball.
( Source : dc )
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