da blaze casino： There will be interesting individual battles within the main battle as both India and Sri Lanka do their homework and try to home in on perceived weaknesses.
Anand Vasu in Kolkata07-Feb-2007
India will look to neutralise Sanath Jayasuriya’s threat, and AjitAgarkar might be their best option in this regard © Getty Images
There will be interesting individual battles within the main battle as both India and Sri Lanka do their homework and try to home in on perceived weaknesses. Here are a few head-to-head contests:Agarkar v JayasuriyaSanath Jayasuriya has tormented bowlers of all kinds for so long now thathe’s always a vital member of the Sri Lankan batting line-up when theteamsheet is finalised. Any team coming up against Sri Lanka will plan to neutralise Jayasuriya’s threat, and India could well turn to AjitAgarkar to do the job. Agarkar, who predominantly bowls outswing toright-handed batsmen, will get the ball to shape back in to theleft-handed Jayasuriya consistently and, if he can hit the right lengths,will be a genuine threat. In the recently concluded series against WestIndies Agarkar repeatedly picked up Chris Gayle, both lbw and bowled, with the ball that came in.Kumble v DilshanSri Lanka’s firepower may be stacked up at the top, but in TillakaratneDilshan they have a batsman capable of explosive innings coming down theorder. With several captains saying that the middle-overs of the inningscould be crucial to the fortunes of teams in the World Cup, Sri Lanka willbe watching carefully how, and how often, Dilshan can come off. The factthat he plays unorthodox strokes, hitting the ball from the stumps on bothsides of the wicket, means that the manner in which he handles Anil Kumblecould be critical. Given Kumble’s metronomic efficiency, if Dilshan misseshe will be out.Malinga v UthappaVirender Sehwag’s run of poor form may have affected him deeply but theIndian team has managed quite alright in his absence, thanks mainly to themarauding Robin Uthappa at the top of the order. While it isearly days in his international career, Uthappa has shown he has theeye and the fast hands, backed by raw power, to hit cleanly through theline in the early part of the innings when the field restrictions are on.Whether he can do the same when the ball is moving around a bit remains tobe seen but he will now be tested against raw pace. Lasith Malingahas blasted out batsmen from the top order with regularity and he will belooking to get Uthappa out of the way in a hurry, for this is one batsmanwho does not believe in simply occupying the crease.
Farveez Maharoof will try and exploit Virender Sehwag’s tendency to sometimesplay without moving his feet much © Getty Images
Maharoof v SehwagFarveez Maharoof was one of the surprise packages for Sri Lanka in theChampions Trophy when he recorded a seven-for against West Indies inMumbai. He has the ability to dart the ball laterally off the surface -especially if the ball grips a bit – which allows him to trouble batsmeneven when the ball is not moving in the air. Virender Sehwag, who islikely to bat in the middle-order, will have to contend with Maharoof. Given Sehwag’s tendency to sometimes play without moving his feet much, the manner in which he counters balls that move off the pitch could well determine how successful he is.Sangakkara v DhoniOnly once in the history of international cricket have wicketkeepers fromeither side scored a century in the same match. That happened at Jaipur,where Mahendra Singh Dhoni played one of the most astonishing knocks ofrecent times, scoring 183. Sangakkara, by no means an inferior batsman but not quite in the same league when it comes to thrashing the ball, hadearlier done his bit, scoring an unbeaten 138 to set up the match. ForIndia, just like Sri Lanka, the runs the wicketkeeper makes is crucial tothe balance of the team. Which of them is the more consistent could have a big say in the outcome of the series.