The second test match between India and Sri Lanka will be played at the Green Park in Kanpur. The first game at Ahmedabad ended in a draw as the two teams failed to make any inroads on a pitch that was anything but bowling-friendly.

India will understand that the pitch could hold the key to their fortunes in this game. In the first match, their bowlers did not get any assistance from the wicket and hence they floundered rather badly. This time around, the game is going to be played on a ground which has seen many a low-scoring thrilling contests, and the last one played here between India and South Africa was no different. India had finally won, but the wicket had come in for a lot of criticism from everyone. So much so that it was said to have almost lost its status as a test match hosting venue.

This time around, it is said that the pitch may not assist the spinners as much as last time, but with the inherent nature of the wicket expected to be of the slow and low variety, the slower bowlers could come into the picture.

It is the story of two opposing off-spinners, both of whom have not been in the best of nicks - Muthiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh - and they would be hoping for a turnaround here. Having said that, it wasn't as if Amit Mishra bowled too well in the previous game, and he will need to come up with a much better performance to live up to his reputation of being a worthwhile successor.

For the Lankans, Ajantha Mendis was left cooling his heels in the dressing room, but one gets the sense that he will play a part in the series, sooner rather than later.

The batting was great for both the sides. The good thing about the game was that all the Indian batsmen got going with at least one half century in the game. Virender Sehwag looks to have gone into a trigger-happy mode, with no tightness in his defence at the moment - something that he had worked on earlier. He will need to play a little more to the merit of the ball, rather than expecting every ball to be dispatched to the fence, whereas the likes of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni could expect a little more difficulty while facing the spinners later.

Dhoni seems to have hurt his finger and may not play in the game, failing which, Yuvraj Singh may lead the side, and Dinesh Karthik would be the wicket-keeper.

Tag :- Ajantha Mendis   India   Muthiah Muralitharan   Sri Lanka   Virender Sehwag   Yuvraj Singh