Pitch Conditions : The pitch at Nagpur has been rolled for a long period of time. The wicket surface has lost its greenery and it has become very yellowish. Yellowish colour to a wicket indicates normal bounce, speed and less turn. But someone like a Murali can turn it on any surface. Outfield is lush green and lightning quick; boundaries will keep coming at a regular pace. The pitch would last for the entire 100 overs. Good bowling and good fielding might just make a difference of 50-60 runs. India is better at batting first and posting a huge score considering the fact that they aren’t great chasers. Sri Lankans have always been good chasers as they plan their innings according to the situations. Even if they lose a wicket or two, they maintain their momentum. All in all the wicket looks like a batting paradise.

 

 

India: India have left out opening batsman Gautam Gambhir and left arm swing bowler Rudra Pratap Singh, so now its a shortlist of 13 players and one player will have to sit out. It's also learnt that Kerala new ball bowler Sree Santh would make his Debut and he is likely to be named as the Super Sub. He might be sharing the new ball with Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar, J.P.Yadav providing the support later. With the new rules of the super sub, Murali Kartik can also be fitted into the side. Kartik has been in his rhythm bowling at the right pace and having good control over his flight. Moreover he is fresh from that 5 wkt haul he had taken in the Challenger Trophy final where he teased the batsmen to play the false strokes with his tantalizing flight. Harbhajan needs to take some wickets too, he has been average of late, biggest challenge for the spinners is the fact that the Lankans employ the sweep to good effect and can be extremely annoying by spoiling the length of the spinners. But all eyes might well be on the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar who is making a comeback, we got to see if the little master is going to play the anchor or play as he was during his prime. Coming to his opening partner, Virender Sehwag needs to be selective in his shots and needs to play according to the merit of the ball. Time and again Sehwag hasn't been able to control his adrenalin flow and has been knocked off by the intelligent Chaminda Vaas. Dravid and Yuvraj need to put their heads down and bat out. It's not a bad batting line up with Dhoni, J.P.Yadav capable of putting up decent partnerships too. India needs to be careful against Vaas early on and Murali during the middle stages of the innings.

 

 

 

 

The conditions and wickets in Sri Lanka are tailor made to suit their slow bowlers and that was one of the main reasons why Indian batsmen struggled to dominate even lesser bowlers like the Chandanas, Dilshans and others. But in India, the wicket conditions are heavily favourable to the batsmen. So Indian batsmen should be able to dominate the Lankan bowlers in a much better way than it was in Sri Lanka during the Indian Oil Cup or the Asia Cup. But Rahul Dravid, the Indian skipper is having 8 inexperienced players who have hardly played even 20 ODIs. One will have to wait and watch as how these promising youngsters handle the pressure of playing Murali, Vaas, Zoysa and others and how these young bowlers cope up with keeping explosive batsmen like Sanath Jayasuriya and others quiet.

Sri Lanka: Good news for Sri Lanka is that their star batsman Sanath is fit. The left hander did have a problem with his shoulder during the practice game at Wankhede and he had to retire hurt. I suppose the visitors might be having some pleasant selection problems. Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof should definitely be certainties to bowl with the new ball, but their problem would be whom to leave out among the other medium pacers. It would also be interesting to see if they continue to experiment with Dilhara Lokuhettige as the pinch hitter. My view is that there's no role for a pinch hitter on a beautiful batting wicket like that of Nagpur's. The Lankan batsmen's ability of stealing singles out of nowhere and converting the 1s into 2s and 2s into 3s is of top class. This as always has been India’s problem and that’s how India has lost many close matches and even lost matches which they could have won easily.

 

Sri Lankans' bowling and fielding would make the difference between the two sides. The bowlers need to put in everything and need to throw whatever skills they have in their hats, bring in whatever variations they have in play or otherwise they would end up being smacked up all over the park.

 

India (short listed to 13) : Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (Captain), Yuvraj Singh, Y.Venugopal Rao, Jai Prakash Yadav, M.S.Dhoni (Wicket Keeper), Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, S Sreesanth, Suresh Raina

 

Sri Lanka :

Marvan Atapattu (Captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene (Vice Captain), Kumar Sangakkara (Wicket Keeper), Tillakarathe Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, Russel Arnold, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas,  Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Lokuhettige