An intense battle looms between familiar rivals

February 07, 2012 05:37 pm | Updated 08:40 pm IST - Perth

The heat is on in Australia' fireball — Perth. As the mercury level soars, the levels of intensity will not dip between two familiar rivals. Sparks could fly here on Wednesday.

India and Sri Lanka will meet in entirely different settings — on what should be a fast WACA wicket — after their face-off in the World Cup final in Mumbai last year when Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men triumphed.

Battered and bruised in the Tests, the Indians salvaged some pride in the two-match T20 series before beginning the Commonwealth Bank ODI triangular series on a disastrous note against the host in Melbourne. Indian cricket and the players are under the scanner. Simply put, the team needs to lift its performances.

These have been stormy times in Sri Lankan cricket. Its former coach Geoff Marsh — interestingly he hails from Western Australia — was sacked under controversial circumstances recently. Worse, there is a major payment dispute between the players and the Sri Lankan Board.

Circumstances demanded Mahela Jayawardene be made captain again and the senior batsman has embraced the challenge. He is tactically brilliant and comprehends the flow of the game.

The contest will be played on what could be a hard, dry pitch with plenty of pace and carry. Given the heat in these parts and the nature of the surface at the WACA, a couple of cracks might open up in the later stages.

The fact that two white balls will be used in the innings should benefit the pacemen. Only batsmen with real quality will be able to harness the pace and bounce on the WACA pitch.

Sehwag to return

For India, Virender Sehwag, bizarrely rested for the last game, is likely to return. A scorching start from him could make things easier for the middle-order that has been stretched.

The Indian team-management has a rotation policy going for the senior cricketers and as Sehwag revealed on Tuesday, either Sachin Tendulkar or Gautam Gambhir could be ‘rested' for this game as he comes back.

On the brighter side for India, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan bowled at the nets displaying little signs of a niggle on his knee that kept him out of the first ODI. The team-management, though, might not risk playing Zaheer so soon after his recovery. Much would also depend on how he feels on the morning of the match.

India has to adopt a different strategy here. The side could leave out Ravindra Jadeja — he disappointed in the first game — and include pace bowling all-rounder Irfan Pathan. Jadeja can be a valuable bowler in the sub-continental pitches where the ball grips. But on the surfaces here where the delivery tends to skid through, he is struggling.

Indications are that Umesh Yadav might come in for R. Ashwin.

The off-spinner has to pivot, align his hip and left shoulder and concentrate on spinning the ball into the right-hander from outside the off-stump to evolve as a bowler. Presently, Ashwin is releasing from too close to the stumps for an off-spinner and his carrom ball is becoming predictable.

Leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, who has been impressive, could relish the bounce at the WACA.

The Sri Lankans regained some ODI form during the last stretch of their one-day contests in South Africa even if the series had been lost by then.

The side has both fire-power — Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews, and Thisara Perera — and solidity — Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara — in batting. Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Chandimal is an exciting prospect.

Much of Sri Lanka's chances would hinge on the deceptive bounce and swinging toe crushers from the fast and furious Lasith Malinga. And left-arm spinner Rangana Herath might use the famous Freemantle Doctor — the strong breeze from the sea — to get the ball to drift or hang in the air.

The teams: India (from): M.S. Dhoni (capt.), V. Sehwag, S. Tendulkar, V. Kohli, Rohit Sharma, S. Raina, I. Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, U. Yadav, Zaheer Khan, G. Gambhir, R. Ashwin, R. Jadeja, M. Tiwary and P. Patel.

Sri Lanka (from): M. Jayawardene (capt.), T. Dilshan, U. Tharanga, K. Sangakkara, D. Chandimal, A. Mathews, T. Perera, N. Kulasekara, L. Malinga, R. Herath, C. Welegedara, D. Prasad, L. Thirimanne, F. Maharoof, S. Senanayake.

Play starts at 9.50 a.m. IST .

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