India, who went down to Pakistan yesterday, have a chance to shun the hosts out of the tournament. A win for India today will mean that both India and Sri Lanka would have qualified for the final, and Pakistan will only be playing against Bangladesh tomorrow for pride’s sake.
Both India and Sri Lanka have been riding high in this tournament. The Lankans have won each of their previous games in the tournament by a convincing margin, and should be looking forward to yet another clinical display today.
The Lankans, for whom this match offers a chance to give their reserve players a chance to slug it out in the middle, are unlikely to tinker with their line up. The only change expected is the inclusion of Dilhara Fernando in place of Nuwan Kulasekara or Chaminda Vaas.
The Indians, for who this is a must-win match, will be putting forward their best unit. This means, Robin Uthappa will continue to warm the benches, and Piyush Chawla, despite the backing of his skipper, might make way for Pragyan Ojha.
India will also want to make room for RP Singh, and after a poor outing against Pakistan, Yusuf Pathan could well be the man on the way out.
The conditions are expected to be no different from the ones we’ve seen right through this tournament – flat and batsmen-friendly wickets. So batting first or chasing wouldn’t make that much of a difference – only the team compositions and the strengths could influence the decision to bat or bowl first.
Can India seal the equation here, and leave nothing to mathematical possibilities? Only time will tell. Live action starts at 1600 Hrs local time.
Teams:
India: MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh.
Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chamara Kapugedera, Tillekaratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Dilhara Fernando, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralidaran, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara.
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