 It
is a sorrow tale for the two sides that played in the World Cup final just ten
months ago. Yet India and Sri Lanka have a chance to redeem themselves
when they square off in their Commonwealth Bank Series encounter on Wednesday.
Click for Live Score Card of India Vs Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka have ebbed to the lows they would not have even envisioned a year ago.
Defeats to Australia, Pakistan and South Africa have left the team asking itself
some serious questions about its own ability. Off the field, political interference
in cricket has left the team in turmoil.
And now they have a new captain installed in Mahela Jayawardene, replacing Tillakaratne Dilshan who had a miserable run with the bat as well during
his own captaincy. There have been changes in coaching department as well with
Graham Ford, the former South Africa coach, taking over from Geoff Marsh.
India have had a disastrous tour of Australia so far, winning only a single Twenty20
match. Their first match of the triangular series against Australia was interrupted
by rain and they ended up losing by 65 runs on Duckworth-Lewis method.
While there is no Australia to confront on Friday, the Indian team knows it
has worries of its own before it can pose a challenge to the opposition. Their
slow bowlers collectively bowled 16 overs, conceding nearly ten runs per over.
As a result, the hardwork done by Vinay Kumar was nullified. In reply,
their own batsmen also failed to build big innings, losing wickets after getting
in and eventually were all out in under 30 overs. MS Dhoni will be looking for
a sparkling performance from his batsmen to propel them to a respectable total.
The two Asian giants played in the last 2007-08 triangular series in Australia,
with India winning two matches while a defeat and no-result in each of
the other two games. WACA ground in Perth will host the match where rain is
not expected to be a factor.
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