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Rediff.com  » Cricket » India looking to shut doors on Sri Lanka

India looking to shut doors on Sri Lanka

Source: PTI
February 25, 2008 14:34 IST
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Batting form will be the prime concern for India and Sri Lanka as the two Asian rivals go into the penultimate tri-series league encounter at Hobart on Tuesday.

- Dhoni warns Tendulkar, Sehwag

The Indians, who have lacked consistency, will be looking to defeat the islanders in the game to qualify for the best of three finals tomorrow itself.

In case they lose, they will have to rely on Australia winning the last match and shutting doors on Sri Lanka's chances for the finals berth.

Australia have already qualified with 26 points from seven matches while India are at the second spot with 12 points from six outings. Sri Lanka are at the placed last with six points from as many matches.

"In any case, we would like to seal the match against Sri Lanka and not leave it to the last game between Australia and Sri Lanka. This game is very important for us," said Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the eve of the crucial tie.

Dhoni also hoped for an improvement in his luck with the coin.

"May be I will have a coin from Sholay, where either way you win," said the Indian captain.

He was disappointed with the poor showing of the top order, whose failure was a major reason for India falling short by just 18 runs while chasing the huge target of 318 runs against Australia in the previous match in Sydney.

"The run-making for the top order hasn't been the story till now and it could make things so much easier for the lower order batsmen," said Dhoni.

India's opening pair has failed to give the team a confident start and Dhoni said he would weigh his options and shuffle the top-order if need be..

"We have a few options, (Robin) Uthappa can open with Sachin but the way Gautam (Gambhir) has settled in at number three, I don't want to disturb him."

The Indians had reverted to the four-bowler strategy in the last game and it remains to be seen whether they continue to adopt a similar ploy for the clash at the relatively smaller Bellerive Oval.

Though Dhoni praised the young bowlers' effort on the batting-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground pitch, the Indian bowling on Sunday looked helpless on a few occasions and the bowlers went for a lot of runs. They would be looking for a better show on the field against the troubled Sri Lanka batting line-ip.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said they badly needed to improve their batting to win the next two matches.

"We have to win both the games. If we get our batting sorted out, we have a very good chance," he said.

Teams (likely):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardena (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Fervez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas.

Match start at 4.30 am IST.

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