The Hindu : Sport : Curtain goes up on India's countdown to the World Cup

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Thursday, Feb 08, 2007
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Curtain goes up on India's countdown to the World Cup

Vijay Parthasarathy

Sri Lanka will be looking to carry the momentum of its performances over the last couple of months

— Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

LEADING THE CHARGE: Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and skipper Rahul Dravid, seen during a practice session at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday, will be key figures in India's preparations for the World Cup.

Kolkata: This is the city of trams and cafes, canary yellow cabs, quaint British-style constructions, the occasional hotel erected incongruously in a mishmash of drab-functional and Art Deco. Kolkata is also home to Eden Gardens, that historic and venerated pilgrimage spot, which has hosted matches since the time of Douglas Jardine and is verily India's answer to Lord's or the MCG.

It is here that the first match of the Hero Honda Cup series between India and Sri Lanka will be played on Thursday, after logistical problems arose in Pune. Eden Gardens last hosted an international match more than a year ago against South Africa, a game that India lost in the absence of Sourav Ganguly.

Not the best idea

Naturally, with the ICC World Cup around the corner, the home team's performance will be analysed in the context of the big picture. The matches in the West Indies are all day affairs, and playing under lights in Kolkata is not perhaps the best idea, given this is really a practice series before the real thing. India's three-match series in Sri Lanka last August was cancelled because of the weather; the last time Sri Lanka toured India late in 2005 it received a 6-1 drubbing.

"Sri Lanka ranks higher than us in the ICC rankings. More importantly it is in good form. We will have to play well to beat the Lankans," Indian captain Rahul Dravid said during Wednesday's press conference.

Lanka's priorities

And, as Jayawardene pointed out immediately afterward, the team roster has undergone some transformation since the last full series contested by these two sides. "We have played some 30 one-dayers since; our priority is to get our combination right, to define roles in our team. Winning this series would be a great thing obviously, but we are looking at the larger perspective," he said.

Sri Lanka's main concern would be to maintain its momentum after some good performances over the past couple of months against New Zealand, where Sri Lanka tied the one-day series 2-2.

Even drawing this series would make its build-up towards the Cup satisfactory.

Incidentally, India's first big match in the World Cup is against the Lankans, and it's no coincidence that the latter has opted to rest Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas for this series. Even allowing for the fact that most of the Indian batsmen are familiar with them, this break serves the dual purpose of keeping these star performers fresh and testing the match-winning potential of some of the lesser known members of this squad.

India on the other hand will hope to continue from where it left off against the West Indies.

Its one-day form last year was poor, and it is only now that Chappell's men are effecting a turn-around.

Sourav Ganguly's resurgence and Robin Uthappa's exploits against the touring West Indians have afforded the team management an extra option, and the out-of-form Virender Sehwag could find himself playing out the middle overs

Fitness issues

The host has fitness issues to deal with: Yuvraj Singh woke up on Wednesday with a stiff back, Irfan Pathan's shoulder is sore from Tuesday evening's practice, while Ajit Agarkar has been down with flu since after the Ranji final.

All three skipped this morning's practice session. The home team will suffer a blow if they are forced to sit out, since Yuvraj and Pathan need all the match practice they can get.

Jayawardene, meanwhile, can concentrate on getting his combination right for this game, and fine-tuning his approach during this final dress rehearsal ahead of the World Cup.

The teams (from):

India: Rahul Dravid (Capt.), Ajit Agarkar, M.S. Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Virender Sehwag, S. Sreesanth, Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj Singh.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (Capt.), Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Chandana, Russel Arnold, Marvan Atapattu, Malinga Bandara, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Nuwan Kulasekara, Farveez Mahroof, Lasith Malinga, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga and Nuwan Zoysa.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (Aus) and Suresh Shastri (Ind); Third umpire: G.A. Pratap Kumar; Match referee: A. Hurst.

Hours of play: 2.30 p.m. to 6 p.m.; 6.45 p.m. to close.

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