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Dress rehearsal for battles ahead

Principal Correspondent

Time to get the notes on the opposition in order

India’s ability to handle Muralitharan, Mendis will be the key
Sangakkara has blended finesse with enviable consistency

— Photo: AFP

KEEN TO PERFORM WELL: With the openers doing well consistently, Mahela Jayawardene (centre), seen at a practice session, hasn’t been able to spend much time in the middle and convert his good starts into big scores.

Karachi: It is a dress rehearsal for battles ahead. When India and Sri Lanka square up in a STAR Cricket Asia Cup semifinal league match at the National Stadium here on Thursday, the players and the think-tanks will be jotting down notes in their memory as well as on their laptops.

The teams, billed to clash in the final here on July 6 unless Pakistan twists the script, will face-off again in Sri Lanka later in three Tests and five ODIs between July 18 and August 29.

Initial salvos

Cut to the present, India and Sri Lanka have cruised merrily with the initial salvos fired by the Sehwag-Gambhir duo and the Jayasuriya-Sangakkara combine, unravelling opponents.

Sangakkara, with three hundreds in this tournament, has blended finesse with enviable consistency and Suresh Raina, has strengthened his comeback journey with two hundreds.

Jayawardene disappointed

The opening sparklers for both teams has left less running-time for the middle-order and for Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardene has chipped in interludes while India’s Rohit Sharma, who had been tentative till now, came good on Wednesday against Pakistan.

“I am getting starts and I am getting out, I am disappointed with that,” Jayawardene said while the Indians hope that the Sri Lankan skipper’s dry run will continue.

The Indians, however, have had their share of batting substance from captain M.S. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. Their ability to handle the middle overs bowled by spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, might well hold the key to Thursday’s match.

Dhoni and coach Kirsten will also be hoping that the match, coming as it does immediately after the clash with Pakistan, will not witness a downswing in the energy levels on the field, a visible fallacy that marred earlier outings.

Sri Lanka with six points is already in the final but Jayawardene said that the team was not looking too far ahead and that the match against India would be the prime-focus.

For India, it is an opportunity to score some psychological points that might stand it in good stead in the days ahead.

The teams:

India: M.S. Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, R.P. Singh, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Gony, Piyush Chawla and Pragyan Ojha.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), K. Sangakkara (vice-captain), S. Jayasuriya, Chamara Silva, T. Dilshan, C. Kapugedera, T. Thushara, M. Muralitharan, C. Vaas, A. Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, N. Kulasekara, Jehan Mubarak, M. Udawatte, K. Weeraratne and F. Maharoof .

Umpires: Simon Taufel and Brian Jerling; Third umpire: Zameer Haidar; Match referee: Alan Hurst.

Match starts at 4 p.m. local time, 3.30 p.m. IST.

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