Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid will lead India against Sri Lanka in
a four-match ODI series that kicks off here today.
The spotlight will be on Sourav Ganguly and dashing
batsman Virender Sehwag who is hoping to make a comeback.
Indian chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has said unambiguously
that he wants to field his best eleven for the series to help them prepare for
the World Cup and keep the winning streak undisturbed.
Tom Moody, Sri Lanka's coach, has said his team is pretty sure
of the brand of cricket they want to play at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean
next month and the Indian tour will be used to boost their confidence.
"There is nothing that we have to work on in India. We
have crystallised in our minds the brand of cricket we want to play. What we
want to get out of India foremost is to have a successful tour and go to the
World Cup with the momentum of a few wins under our belts," said Moody.
Rahul Dravid will be keen to repeat the team's tremendous
success against Sri Lanka in the last home series when they defeated the emerald
islanders in a tennis match like score of 6-1.
It was after a dismal tour of India at the end of 2005 that
the wheel of fortune started to turn for Sri Lanka, and Mahela Jayawardene
has not quite forgotten the humiliation.
"The focus might be on the World Cup but... India is a
place that we haven't performed well recently. We want to rectify that and put
it right and perform well. If we do that it will be good for us, in terms of
confidence, going into the World Cup," Jayawardene said recently.
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