Checks and balances

All this has to be evaluated in the backdrop of the pitch at the R Premadasa,whether it will continue to afford bounce or tone down with the passage of the tournament.

Defending champion and strong contender,England will prove an ideal sounding board and if the chopping and changing does not succeed,then India can be sure that those options are certain not to trouble the tougher opponents. The English pace unit that ripped through Afghanistan in their opening fixture will put the Indian batting through a stiff test,and the sub-continental side’s old problems against the rising ball will surely be one area where they will be probed.

Team India isn’t going to be caught unaware in that department. Before the practice session at the P Sara Oval,fielding coach Trevor Penny held a small consultation with the net bowlers to find out who amongst them was the quickest and then instructed them to bowl it short. Ashok Dinda ran in and bent his back as the Indian batsmen tried their hands at the pull and hook shots.

As for the batting order,though,Dhoni has designated all batsmen as floaters,moving them up and down the order as per the equations of the game,it’s very unlikely that there will be too many dramatic changes.

Virender Sehwag’s knock on his wrist saw him skip practice,but the indications from the camp are that the injury is nothing serious and that the opener will play if selected.

Chance for Harbhajan?

On the bowling front,Dhoni has a few more pressing issues to sort out.

He is likely to switch a few guys from the standby mode to active duty — India’s bench strength includes the likes of Harbhajan Singh,Dinda and Piyush Chawla,and it is possible that more than one of them will get a shot against England. India,over the warm up game and against minnows Afghanistan,failed to get the opposition’s batsmen under any pressure,and it is likely that the performance against England will put the bench warmers in a leading role to land a spot in the side once they make the next stage.

It will also be interesting to see if the out of sorts Zaheer Khan will be given another match to get himself into some kind of form,or if the ageing bowler will be given a day off. Dinda has given a decent account of himself as and when called into action and the skipper might be tempted to play the Bengal pacer.

Irfan Pathan is necessary for the balance of the side,and if Dhoni is to play two spinners,then it would be Lakshmipathy Balaji that will have to sit out. There are of course several permutaions and combinations that will be open to the captain,but there is perhaps just one match to try them out in.