India will face Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI of the series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. India leads the series 2-1 and will be looking to finish off the series by winning this game, whereas Sri Lanka will make sure that the Indians do not have it easy and try to take the series into the fifth and the final game.

Eden Gardens is hosting an international game after more than two years. In fact, the last ODI it hosted was in February 2007 and coincidentally, it was against Sri Lanka as well. However, it was abandoned thanks to heavy rains and both sides shared the game. Rather surprisingly, the last ODI before that game at the Eden Gardens was in 2005 against South Africa that India had lost under the coaching of Greg Chappell and were booed off the ground by the public. With the Cricket Association of Bengal authorities having fallen off in their relationship with the cricket board, it is no surprise that the best ground in the country has not been getting too many games.

India will still be missing MS Dhoni, but Virender Sehwag seemed to have done a good job with his bowlers. In fact, what was even more refreshing to see in the previous game was the improved Indian fielding and that should augur well for the side in this game.

On the other hand, the Lankans would be fretting with the kind of collapse that put paid to their chances. They had gone in with six frontline batsmen only in Angelo Mathews absence and that meant that they had to decide between taking in an extra batsman or a bowler, but the Lankans went in for the bowling option. However, that seemed to have failed, and there is a good chance that Sanath Jayasuriya will be back in favour in this game, with his ability to do both, bat and bowl at the number seven position. With Upul Tharanga batting so well, it will be difficult to separate him from the omni-century scorer, Tillakaratne Dilshan.

As compared to this, India's batting line-up also looked slightly weak with Dinesh Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja at numbers six and seven. But Karthik's promotion to the top of the order helped and he guided the Indians to a win along with Sachin Tendulkar.

The pace bowling will still be India's main worry, as they struggled to plug the holes early and Tillakratne Dilshan mesmerized them with some sizzling strokeplay. The Indian bowlers will need to contain the marauding batsman at the top, or expecting them to repeat the mistake of the previous game - of collapsing after the amazing start - would be expecting too much!

Tag :- Angelo Mathews   Greg Chappell   India   Sri Lanka   Tillakratne Dilshan   Upul Tharanga   Virender Sehwag