A tough tour ahead

All the test playing nations and the other countries who have qualified to play in the World Cup are currently going through the last preparation stage. Sri Lanka and India will lock horns over four ODI’s as their last outing before the big outing in the Caribbean.

India are fresh after whipping the West Indies 3 – 1, with the fourth game concluding last week. India were very impressive in the series. Their overall form in the past twelve months has varied and not been consistent. In this series they got their act together.

On the opposite side of the coin, their opponents, played poorly. Their bowling and fielding was just not up to the mark. Wayward bowling and sloppy fielding let them down and in the last game their batting collapsed as well. This leaves the host islands of the World Cup with plenty of issues to iron out in the next six weeks.

The Indians were able to shuttle their players and achieve some satisfying results. Initially it came as a shock when they left Virendra Shewag out of the squad for these games. He has been amongst the nucleus in the Indian side for quite a while now. However, in the past twelve months a problem they have had is the inadequate number of runs coming off the bats of the big three – Tendulkar, Dravid and Shewag. One of them had to be kept out, at least for a while and it had to be Shewag.

In the absence of the murderous opener, The Indian batsmen came out with some sterling performances. Back after being sidelined for a long while, former captain Sourav Ganguly, batted with authority. The vastly experienced left hander who has amassed over 10,000 runs in ODI’s has got the mental side of the game in order. He believes there is more to offer and has committed himself to the task of scoring runs in any position that he is asked to bat. It has paid off both for him and the team. He was confident and in good touch. It was a disappointment to see him get run out two runs short of a well deserved century in the opening game.

He other two openers who got an opportunity were Gautham Gambir and Robin Utahppa. Both made some contributions and have staked a claim. The return of Irfan Pathan must also lift the team. His bowling and explosive batting is most welcome in one dayers. To have two players in the mould of Pathan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a huge bonus for any team. One can bowl left arm pace and thump the ball, while the other keeps wicket and thumps the ball even harder!

In the pace bowling department the Indians have plenty of options with the experienced Ajith Agakar and Zaheer Khan leading the way. Add Irfan Pathan and youngsters R.P. Singh and Sreesanth, that is a good crop of quick bowlers. The proven pair of Kumble and Haribajan Singh handle the spin department and that completes a well balanced unit. A unit that will be tough to beat on their very experienced campaigners, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas who have been afforded a rest. The question is whether it is the right time to rest players! It means that the side will go into the World Cup and assemble their full strength eleven only in the opening game their resting these two players has meant that experienced players, Arnold and Upul Chandana get another opportunity. So too, Nuwan Zoysa who has got back into the reckoning. Much attention will be paid to the performance of these players. It will also be faster for middle order batsmen T.M. Dilshan and Chamara Silva. It has often been the batting that has let the side down and the performance of these two middle order batsmen will also be scrutinized. All in all Mahela Jayawardena and the team can expect nothing but a tough tour.