The third ODI between India and Sri Lanka will be played at Cuttack in the Barbati Stadium. It will be a day-night game, and with the teams tied at one game apiece, this match will assume great importance as a win for either team will mean that the other side will have to win two successive games to win the series.

India have been dealt a body blow by the ICC match referee Jeff Crowe, who has banned the Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for two games in the series for slow over-rate. This will mean that the Indians will be led by someone else, and that, could be either Virender Sehwag or Gautam Gambhir. Yuvraj Singh's fitness is still a suspect and it remains to be seen whether he will be fit enough to take up the place of Dhoni in the third game.

Apart from that, the Indians will need to look at bolstering their bowling up. It has been four successive games now, including the two T20Is, where the bowlers have leaked runs in a gazillion. They will need to make a change or two, and probably get in a Sudeep Tyagi in place of Praveen Kumar in order to bring in some changes while bowling to the likes of Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Dilshan has already smashed a couple of centuries in two games, and will look to pounce upon any chance that the Indians will afford him. The Indian bowling will need to find out ways of containing the smashing batting of Dilshan, who has barely looked like getting out in the series so far. The only manner in which he has looked like he could be sent back to the pavilion is when he has got tired after a long innings at the crease.

To overcome the Dilshan problem, the one way the Indians will look to field much better in the in-field and try to cut out the singles that he loves pinching every now and then. However, Dilshan is not India's only problem. The other issue is also with the fact that Upul Tharanga has not only supported Dilshan well but also matched his partner's strike-rate. In both the games, the opening pair has given Sehwag-Tendulkar a run for their money and the Indian bowlers will need to separate them as soon as they can.

The Sri Lankan spinners did get away in the previous game, but one gets the sense that for the likes of Suraj Randiv to succeed again, they will need to bowl much better. The surprise element is gone and the Indian batsmen will look to take on the Lankan spinners and get most out of them.

Tag :- India   Mahendra Singh Dhoni   Praveen Kumar   Sri Lanka   Suraj Randiv   Tillakaratne Dilshan   Upul Tharanga