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Dhoni faced with a tricky balancing act

S. Ram Mahesh

The Indians take on a strong second-string Sri Lankan team today

— PHOTO: PTI

TOUGH CALL: M.S. Dhoni and his men will have to get into the groove rather early with just one practice match ahead of the five-match ODI series against the Lankans.

Colombo: M.S. Dhoni’s request to borrow Ajantha Mendis for a training session or two seems to have been turned down by the Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene; the mystery spinner wasn’t in evidence at the leafy Nondescripts Cricket Club, where the Indian one-day squad practised on Thursday morning.

After the conviviality of Wednesday evening, when the five-match ODI series was launched at one of Colombo’s chandelier-dripping hotels (and when Dhoni jestingly made the proposal to his opposite number), it was time for the side to train and acclimatise ahead of its only practice game of the series.

The Indians will play a strong second-string Sri Lankan team — featuring several current players and picked reportedly to deny the touring side momentum in the run-up to the series — at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium on Friday.

Stern test

With just the one game ahead of what promises to be a severely testing contest spread over two weeks, Dhoni is faced with a tricky balancing act.

Ideally he would have played what he considers his best eleven in Sri Lankan conditions (which for one-day games are near homogenous) — the combination he will lead to the field in the first ODI, scheduled to be played in Dambulla on Monday. But he also needs to look into the demands of a five-match competition. As he pointed out on Wednesday, every member of the squad must be game-ready in a series of such length.

Apart from Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, and, to a lesser extent, Parthiv Patel, all of whom played in the Test series, the squad members need to find their rhythm.

Rohit Sharma, R.P. Singh, Munaf Patel, and Pragyan Ojha have all clocked time in the nets during the Test series, but there’s nothing like quality time in the middle to bolster the spirit.

Precious and futile

It isn’t clear yet if Friday’s game will be one of those 12-a-side affairs — the sort that allows a touring side to better air its players. In any case, the match appears at once precious and futile: precious because it allows Dhoni the opportunity to assess his squad in match-play, and get a sense of opponents, such as Mahela Udawatte, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Dilhara Fernando, who he might confront in the one-day series; futile because there’s no replicating Murali and Mendis.

If such ponderous thoughts are occupying Dhoni, he showed no signs of it during Thursday’s practice.

After keeping for a couple of overs in the spinners’ net, he turned his attention to batting and very nearly deposited a ball in the neighbouring Sinhalese Sports Club. Thereafter he took part in a session with two slip catchers, in Suresh Raina and Harbhajan, and the fielding coach, before monitoring the work his squad was putting in.

Test of fitness

Thursday’s practice began with a bleep test, the squad divided into two and asked to lap an area cordoned by cones. The stars of this test of fitness were S. Badrinath — who continued for a good few minutes after the last of his group comprising Dhoni, Raina, Yuvraj, R.P. Singh, and Praveen Kumar, dropped away — and Virat Kohli. “It was a very good session, it was very intense,” said Kohli, who has been selected to the national squad for the first time. “The fitness drills and practice went well, and I jelled well with the rest of the team.”

The sides (from): Sri Lankans: Chamara Kapugedara (capt.), Upul Tharanga, Mahela Udawatte, Malinda Warnapura, Jehan Mubarak, Chamara Silva, Kaushal Silva, Malinga Bandara, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Dilhara Fernando, Thilan Thushara and Chanaka Welagedara.

Indians: M.S. Dhoni (capt. & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, S. Badrinath, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, R.P. Singh, Munaf Patel and Pragyan Ojha.

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