13 ODIs in 2009
Sri Lanka and India will play the first of the 13 ODIs (Sri lanka will play 3 Tests and 7 ODIs in India later this year) that are scheduled to be played between the two countries in 2009 when the two teams meet at the picturesque Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium situated in Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle tomorrow.
between SL and IND
In the past two years India have had the better of Sri Lanka in the shorter format of the game but Sri Lanka have managed to defeat India in crucial matches such as the World Cup game in the West Indies which brought India’s World Cup campaign to an abrupt end and more recently the Asia Cup final in Pakistan where the brilliance of Sanath Jayasuriya with the bat and Ajantha Mendis with the ball destroyed India in quick time.
India though soundly beat Sri Lanka in the VB series in 2008 and went on to beat the World Champions Australia in the finals. More significantly India managed to do what only a few teams have done and that is beat Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka which they did quite comfortably in the ODI series in Aug of 2008.
with srilankans disappoining at home
Sri Lanka have had a wretched run of form at home in the past two years or so where their only series win has come against the Bangladeshis and that too was achieved in a very unconvincing manner. In the said period Sri Lanka lost to England (their first series win in the sub-continent since 1986) and also to India.
Another interesting set of stats from a Sri Lankan point of view in the above mentioned period is that Sri Lanka played a total of 13 ODIs at home between June of 2007 to date and won 7 (3 of them against Bangladesh) and lost 6. Only in one of those 13 games did our batters manage to post a score in excess of 250. In the said period Jayawardena’s 94 against the Indians in game 3 of the series last year happens to be the highest individual score by a Sri Lankan batsman. In fact the last time a Sri Lankan batsman scored an ODI hundred at home was way back on the 2nd of September when Upul Tharanga score 105 against Bangladesh. Since then we have played 18 matches at home and the highest individual score being Jayawardena’s 94 as mentioned earlier.
Given the above one has to either be brave or foolish or both to predict that home advantage will help Sri Lanka in the series against the Indians beginning tomorrow.
and the indians on a high
As for the Indians well there is nothing much to say. Usually there is nothing much to say when things are going bloody well and similarly there is plenty to say when things have gone horribly wrong and this seems to have very much been the story of what has gone on with Indian cricket and Sri Lankan cricket respectively in the recent past.
India have emerged as the one of the best if not the best ODI team in the world at the moment with impressive wins in Australia and Sri Lanka and also at home against England.
its over to dambulla
Looking ahead to the first ODI in Dambulla, as we have seen in the recent past the ball will do a bit for sure for the seamers and given the kind of form and quality of Zack and Sharma there is no doubt that Dilshan in particular will be tested early on. I hope he uses his head and realizes that when playing on our wickets back home especially at a venue like Dambulla you just can’t hit through the line particularly early on in the innings.
Wickets in hand will be the key as besides Ishant and Zack and also given that India have no Bhajji in their squad, the middle overs should provide our batters with plenty of scoring opportunities. So if our openers can play out the first ten overs without losing their wickets there is every chance that we could easily post around 240 to 260 which on Sri Lankan wickets (of late) would be equivalent to 280 to 300!
From Sri Lanka’s perspective I can’t see any changes to the side that played in the final game against Pakistan on Saturday.
Jayasuriya, Dilshan, Sangakkara (WK), Kandamby, Jayawardena (C), Kapugedara, Maharoof, Thushara, Murali, Kulasekara, Mendis
where the pitches are bowler friendly
Given the nature of bowler friendly Sri Lankan wickets I am sure the idea of playing 7 batters will be discussed and should that happen then Mathews will come in for either Maharoof or Thushara.
However, Maharoof has bowled quite brilliantly in Sri Lankan conditions over the past few years and his experience and hopefully some inside knowledge of India’s devastating opening pair of Gambhir and Sehwag (Maha’s Delhi team-mates) will I am sure enable him to get the nod over the very impressive young all rounder, Angelo Mathews.
Thushara on the other hand is also improving with every game and is making a strong case to take the place of the great Chaminda Vass in the ODI team. On the subject of Vassy I can’t help but feel that we are going to miss his experience with the new ball in this series as we are playing a side that easily has the best batting line up in ODI cricket.
and the weather turning disappointing
It appears that after weeks of bright sunshine the Indians brought with them yesterday some inclement weather into Colombo and I really do hope that bad weather does not spoil yet another Ind vs. SL series in Sri Lanka.
so I predict
I still stand by my prediction that India will win the series 4-1 with Sri Lanka’s solitary win coming at the SSC. I also feel that Yuvraj will play a big part this time around in helping India win the series.
but prove me wrong again lads
If our boys prove me wrong then quite obviously I’ll be delighted.
Looking forward to some wonderful cricket between two very good teams!
Incredibleshoaib is editor of
THE EPICENTER OF SRI LANKAN CRICKET on Silly Points!
Sri Lanka
IncredibleShoaib
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