Margao: The time has arrived for the final dress rehearsal, for last minute touches and subtle tinkering. Brilliant lead performances cannot cover for the fact that the Indians haven't settled on their cast. Some players have called in injured; others are struggling to summon motivation.

Problems, potentially serious ones, are afoot and despite the middle order having mounted a successful chase on Wednesday, the Indians still have several things to fix ahead of the World Cup.

So, Zaheer Khan is fast rebuilding his reputation as India's No. 1 strike bowler. Better still, he has competition — a couple of early wickets are more or less guaranteed. Whether the spinners can sustain that momentum is less clear.

Early breakthroughs

On the evidence of the past few matches that India has played, the seamers are going to make the breakthrough and Harbhajan will contain at one end; he may pick up a wicket in his second spell.

Sri Lanka has broken away twice in two matches in the middle overs. Anil Kumble is no longer as consistently tight as he used to be, and anyway he might only figure in a couple of matches. Sehwag and Tendulkar shared fifth bowler duties in Margao and might do so in the Caribbean. They were hustled for 63 in ten overs in the last match. Of the two, Tendulkar is more likely to give away too much. On the other hand he mixes line, length and even spin and has often broken partnerships. How the fifth bowler performs will prove crucial.

The fielding is another worry. Dinesh Karthik, pegged as a permanent wicketkeeper in domestic cricket, is proving a fine attacking fielder, perfect for cover or mid-off. Nevertheless, too many freebies are being tossed out.

Yuvraj let a few run past him at point, and was unable to latch on to an uppish flick, but that can be attributed to rustiness. On the other hand, where can Munaf Patel, more Phantom of the Opera than fielder, conceal himself in the open long-on for Jayasuriya? Sweeper for Atapattu?

Bowling all-rounder Irfan Pathan is the one man who could hypothetically fit in place of Karthik — his proficiency as both a batsman and an in-swing bowler used to give India an extra option.

Special Correspondent adds from Mumbai

Sachin Tendulkar, ailing from a stiff back, will not play the fourth match of the series at Visakhapatnam.

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