India look to finish the job

The coach realises the desperate need for his batters to seize the opportunity. So, Badrinath is seen repeatedly sweeping throw-downs from Kirsten, while Suresh Raina works on connecting with his reverse-sweep. At a distance, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are knocking the ball hard at the nets — the sweet sound of ball hitting the middle of the bat is doubled as they drive together.

Throwing away starts

“It’s not like I am not scoring, I am really batting well and dominating the bowlers but I just have to improve on my judgment of taking a single. The way I got run-out yesterday is really frustrating,” Kohli says.

Most batsmen in the line-up have been guilty of gifting their away wickets after getting good starts. In Sunday’s match, for example, Kohli got 25, Yuvraj Singh a quick 12, Rohit made 32 before holing out while Raina ran himself out after 53.

They did manage to smother Ajantha Mendis’s effectiveness by attacking, but with the exception of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, no one has shown the tenacity to consolidate, going for the spectacular rather than sticking to the basics.

What should help is that the fourth game of the five-match series will be played on a different 22-yard surface, one which is slightly better rolled and should allow the ball to come on to the bat better.

Shuffle on the cards

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are battling with their own share of problems — mostly in a rather lean middle-order. Chamara Silva has been persisted with despite failing to impose himself, while Kumar Sangakkara has struggled against Zaheer Khan early in the innings. The hosts are expected to shuffle their batting order around to accommodate Jehan Mubarak at the top, which will then allow Sangakkara, one of their mainstays, to come in once things ease up in the middle.

Dhoni has increasingly treated a fifth bowler as a luxury in one-dayers and under the circumstances, it’s likely that they will go in with the same seven-four combination with Yuvraj and Rohit turning their arms over.

Shot at history

As the Indian team filed into the team bus after Monday’s practice, a big photograph hanging in the main stadium lounge caught Gary Kirsten’s attention. It’s a picture of a scoreboard where the total reads 952, with Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama posing besides it. ‘A new chapter added in the history of international cricket at the R Premadasa stadium’.

India were at the receiving end of that historic partnership. On Tuesday, Dhoni & Co get a small shot at making some, for India, surprising as it sounds, have never won a bilateral one-day series in Sri Lanka.

As things stand, it seems only the weather could spoil the party. But, the way things have gone over the last couple of one-dayers, overcast conditions might just play into the visiting side’s swinging hands.