PREVIEW: Sri Lanka vs India | Asia Cup Final 2008

[Aman Harees]

So finally it has arrived. Two of the best in Asia compete for a prize last touched by the Sri Lankans themselves. It's a completely different Indian team from four years ago. Back then, the prince of culcutta reigned over the team and their over dependence of the trio of Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly was well documented. Instead of Kaif are Raina and Rohit. Instead of Dravid is Gambhir. Instead of Nehra is Ishant. India have coped very well to replace players with some more with possibly greater talent. The discovery of MS Dhoni was possibly the find of the last decade. Now he is evoking comparisons with Tendulkar himself. Sri Lanka on the other hand hasn't changed much can be interpreted as both good and bad. Other than Chandana, Atapattu and Gunawardene the team looks very similar to the current line up. Instead of them are guys like Silva, kapugedera and the new spinner Mendis. I reckon the real tussle will be between India's top five [who've all averaged at over 50 n at over a 100 SR except for MS] and the SL trio, Vaas/Murali/Mendis who've taken 24 wickets between them at less than 4 RPO. Also, the India ground fielding has been poor of late although this could be due to back to back games. Could SL's fielding give them that extra bit of help? If you ask me, I'd say India hands down but as a Lankan I'm hoping we pull it off. If India win, no worries. Here's to an entertaining game! This is my line up: SRI LANKA 1.S JAYASURIYA 2.K SANGAKKARA 3.M JAYAWARDENE 4.C KAPUGEDERA 5.C SILVA 6.T DILSHAN 7.T MIRANDO 8.C VAAS 9.N KULESEKARA 10.A MENDIS 11.M MURALITHARAN As for India, without a doubt they'll stick with their XI vs SL but might possibly draft in Chawla. I wouldn't include Fernando who blows hot and cold. I feel the great losses of Malinga and Maharoof would affect us greatly but we have to play with whatever we have. Good luck India and Sri lanka....Here's praying for a Lankan victory!!

[satishg]

good write up..u guys have a better bowling attack than us..there is no doubt about it..as u said if Indias top order fires against 2 of the 3 premier bowlers then India are going to end up as winners..so im praying that Indias batsmen come gud one last time and cover the weakness v have in our bowling lineup..on a flat track Srilankan team has the edge over India because of the presence of Vaas and Murali..and hey Chawla is not playing tom..Ojha retains his spot which is a gud move and i think yusuf mite replace the innocuous Irfan..

[Dirty_South]

Good post.I'm only scared of our openers who can choke in the main game :nervous:

[cowboysfan]

The key for India is the openers not losing early wickets and for the middle order to hold its own against murali/mendis.If we can score 5 an over against those two without losing more than 2 wickets then we can get to 300 easily. Bowling-we have to break the openinng partnership early or jayasurya and sanga are going to run away with the match.

[Predator_05]

Also' date=' the India ground fielding has been poor of late although this could be due to back to back games. Could SL's fielding give them that extra bit of help? :[/quote'] Absolutely. Think back to some of the finals India and Sri Lanka have played in the last few years. '02 Champions Trophy, Zaheer bowled Jayasuriya first ball and SL were 0/1. He could have had Atapattu caught at slip in that same over, but Dinesh Mongia dropped a straightforward catch. Lanka could have been 0/2 and India would have been well on top. Then think back to the last Asia Cup final - India had the openers sent back within the first 8 overs, and then Laxman dropped an easy catch which would have got rid of Sangakkara. Result ? Sangakkara went on to score a fifty, which turned out to be a match-winning knock. I won't even mention the '05 Indian Oil Trophy final, as India's fielding, running between the wickets, and almost everything else was shambolic throughout that tournament. Anyway, you can see what i am alluding to - basically India have always looked jaded in these finals against SL and haven't managed raise their game to the level of their opponents. And when you see how close the matches were, it's obvious that better fielding could have made a big difference. But like you said - this team is completely different from the ones i mentioned above, so hopefully we'll see a different result this time. India's poor fielding in this tournament has not done much to convince me though. I, and most other Indians, will be counting on our batsmen to get the job done

[DomainK]

Again flat pitch, again 600+ runs.......again India wins :)

[DomainK]

Absolutely. Think back to some of the finals India and Sri Lanka have played together in the last few years. '02 Champions Trophy, Zaheer yorked Jayasuriya first ball and SL were 0/1. He could have had Atapattu caught at slip in that same over, but Dinesh Mongia drop a straightforward catch. Lanka could have been 0/2 and India would have been well on top. Then think back to the last Asia Cup final - India had the openers sent back within the first 8 overs, and then Laxman dropped an easy catch which would have got rid of Sangakkara. Result ? Sangakkara went on to score a fifty, which turned out to be a match-winning knock. I won't even mention the '05 Indian Oil Trophy final, as India's fielding, running between the wickets, and almost everything else was shambolic throughout that tournament. Anyway, you can see what i am alluding to - basically India have always looked jaded in these finals against SL and haven't managed raise their game to the level of their opponents. And when you see how close the matches were, it's obvious that better fielding could have made a big difference. But like you said - this team is completely different from the ones i mentioned above, so hopefully see a different result this time. India's fielding poor fielding in this tournament has not done much to convince me though. I, and most other Indians, will be counting on our batsmen to get the job done

Very good points there. We can not win the crucial matches if we dont take every chance.

[Dhondy]

Aman, the last 5 finals have gone to SL, although 4 of them were at Columbo. If history counts for anything, India are toast. However, Dhoni doesn't think like that. It takes a very special man to rise from abject poverty to superstardom in a cricket-mad country like India, where there are millions of wannabes, all practicing their guts out at the nets and dreaming of glory. Dhoni is that special person. He has an almost preter-natural belief in his own ability and his mental strength is already the stuff of legend. It's difficult to fool a billion people all the time. It's on Dhoni that India's hopes rest. He averages 60 as captain, has the best record of any Indian ODI captain ever, and has shaped the side in his own fearless mould. Tomorrow, at some stage, India will be in trouble. SL has too many quality players for that not to happen- Jaya x 2, Sanga, Murali, Vaas and Mendis- there's five experienced tyros there, and one young turk- not a side to capitulate. When that hour of crisis arrives, the team will look to Dhoni to call upon his reserves of mental strenth, street-smartness and lateral thinking. It will test his will to win, when he must put his millions out of his mind and force himself to think, be calm and fight back. Whether he succeeds or fails will define India's path for many years to come. It's no secret that the selectors are observing every move of his as Kumble enters the final phase of his career as India's Test captain.

[Rajiv]

This one belongs to India