Judging by the fact that the two teams have shown their strength in batting, it will be the bowling that will decide which team comes out on the victorious side. But that appears to have been lost for India, with only a draw a reasonable possibility.
That Sri Lanka boast of a batting line up that may not have the prowess of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar but has serious potential for it was not in doubt.
Thilan Samaraweera has come back from the shock and horror of the terror attacks in Lahore, Pakistan in March this year as a renewed man. Tillkeratne Dilshan has grabbed the opportunity to be in the team, even in an opening position with both hands to the extent that he has now become a permanent member of the team’s plans. Mahela Jayawardene gave up Sri Lanka’s captaincy to focus on his batting and the decision does not seem to have affected him negatively. Kumar Sangakkara is now Sri Lanka’s captain and it seems to not affecting his batting either.
With the likes of young Tharanga Paranavitana and Angelo Matthews, not to mention Prasanna Jayawardene, Sri Lanka have arrived in India determined to ruin their past record of not winning a single Test in India.
On the contrary, with India’s batting line up at full strength, there appears to be little to pick in terms of differentiating the two teams for want of batting resources.
The bowling then can only determine whether this match tapers into a draw or actually sees a result. But even that initiative appears to have been wrested by the visitors who have revealed a new sensation in Chanaka Welegedera and promise to deploy Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath to full capacity, although at the end of the third day’s play, one is yet to see a spinner dominate this game.
How well Sri Lanka bowl defending their lead, which is in the region of 150 tonight will determine how hard India will have to fight to make a draw of a match that has seem them looking that flat and want for inspiration, notwithstanding the pitch.
Dhoni’s Century Handy Because Captaincy is not Working!
SA Follow India’s Lead Against UDRS; New Zealand Go Ahead
Ind SL T1 Day 3 Lunch and Tea: Mahela Leads SL with a Century Knock!
Thilan Thushara Ruled Out, Dilhara In for India Tour, Welegedera Finds Time to Shine!
Ind SL T1 Day 2 Stumps: Match Poised Nicely After Dilshan Heroics
Ind SL T1 Day 2 Lunch and Tea: Dilshan Ton Takes Sri Lanka to Good Beginnings
Ind SL T1: Tendulkar’s Hero to Zero is Reflection of Indian Itinerary Chaos
Ind SL T1 Day 1 Stumps: Dravid, Dhoni Centuries Rescue India in Record Style!
Ind SL T 1 Day 1 Tea: India’s Next Dravid- Where Is He?
Ind SL T1 Day 1 Lunch: Reminiscing Guwahati
Anjali Tendulkar Visits Sachin In Ahmedabad
Sri Lanka Have No Practice Before Tests
Lacklustre Batting Display Proved too Costly for India
Vishwanath, Gavaskar Felicitated by Bachchan, Tendulkar
Sahara Sports Awards Saw Some Sizzling Face to Face Encounters
Ind Aus ODI 7 in Limbo: Cyclone Alert in Mumbai Keeps Cricket At Bay, SL v BP XI Also Cancelled
Ind Aus ODI 7 Eve: Unseasonal Rain Descends Upon Mumbai
Shane Watson Should Consider Himself Blessed in India!
Ponting Going For Kill, Aiming for 5-2
Don’t Carry Your Mobile Phone to the Stadium!
Mumbai ODI Without Zing as Selectors Pick Test Squad
Sangakkara Feels Sri Lanka Have Less Pressure Than India
Shane Warne Picks on Dhoni for Lack of Aggressiveness
T20 Burst Worried Ponting About Australian Youngsters
Dhoni Reprimands Batsmen for Series Loss
Ponting Feels Winning in India is Like Winning the World Cup!
Did you see this? Check This Out!
Ind Aus ODI 6: Australia Complete Formalities, Corner Series Win Over Hapless India
Ind Aus ODI 6 Half Time:Guwahati Horrors for Team India
Australia Struggle For Spinner Even as Warne Seeks Replacement
Jadeja Speaks Out About that Untimely Run Out
Ricky Ponting’s Pep Talk Behind Australia Withstanding Tendulkar Assault
Ind Aus ODI 6 Guwahati Preview: India Have a Do or Die on Their Hands
Was Sachin To Blame for India’s Loss in Hyderabad?
Javed Miandad Believes Tendulkar Is Exemplary for Future Cricketers
Dhoni Thinks India Lost the Match Mentally Despite Tendulkar’s Knock!
Ponting Praises Tendulkar, Watson and Marsh
Sachin Speaks Out About Pressure, Planning and Disappointment
Ind Aus ODI 5: Heartbroken Tendulkar Despite his Heroics
Ind Aus ODI 27th Over: Indian Innings Gathers Force Around Tendulkar Special 45!
Siddle, Nielsen Target Schedules for Injury Casualties
Ind Aus ODI 5 Half Time: Australia Raise Highest Total in India!
Moises Henriques - The Latest on the Injury List
We are in for some terrific cricket over the next few days!
Siddle Joins Hopes on Flight Back Home
Ind Aus ODI 4: India Miss a Golden Chance to Go 3-1 Up!
Ind Aus ODI 4 Half Time: Nehra, Run Outs See Australia Falter
Plotting, Planning or Playing - India No. 1 at Mohali?
Sachin Tendulkar - A Grandfather?
Players Break Security Cordon, Live Ammunition Found
Ind Aus ODI 4: India On Field First At Mohali
Karthik To Stand By for Gambhir, Sehwag Injuries
Ind Aus ODI 3: Dhoni, Yuvraj Star in Indian Win
Ind Aus ODI 3 Half Time: Aussie Target - Par for the Course?
Brett Lee’s Injury Rules Him Out of Series
If Dhoni is Batting Higher Up, What are the Other Batsmen Doing?
Was Ponting’s Pitch Complaints Justified? Was Dhoni’s Joke in Good Humour?
Ind Aus ODI 3: Ponting Should be Happy to Win Toss
Harbhajan Singh Turned to Hirwani
When in India, do what the BCCI does
Beat Indians on the Field, Not Off It!
Hate Wars or Racism: India Australia Thick in It
McCullum Not Quitting, Racism Didn’t Happen, No Match Fixing and No Dada?
Morne’s Racial Abuse Deftly Handed; SA All Praises
Brett Lee Nows a News Anchor in Hindi?
Brett Lee’s Infidelity Woes, Indifference, and Now Injury
Brett Lee: All in the Attempt to Preserve ‘the Brand’
Team India Fields Same Faces for the Next Two ODIs
More Pain for Australia with No Paine
Manou’s Test Debut in Ashes T 3 Day 1 Stumps: Watson Drives Away the Blues
Ind Aus ODI 2: The Zing Is Back!
Ind Aus ODI 2 Half Time: Dhoni Mania Hits Nagpur
Tendulkar Takes on Umpires for Referral System
Ind Aus ODI 2: Sunny’s Imposition for Sachin Tendulkar, Ind 67/2 in 10.1
Nagpur ODI Preview: India Have a Chance!
Law Intervenes, Venkatesh Prasad Disappointed
Ponting Has Reasons to Fume as Australia Loses Battle for the Spearheads
Kapil Dev Asks - Why is BCCI Not Accountable?
Ponting Expresses Anger at CL T20 Final Delaying Personnel Matters
No Hopes, Lee and Johnson Under Scanner
Ind Aus ODI 1: Bhajji, Praveen Take India Within Four Runs of Impossible Win
Ind Aus Honour Series ODI 1 Half Time: Australia Chalk up 292 at Vadodara!
India-Australia ODI Series - Results, Dates, Venues and News in the Run Up!
