India get down to business

Such is the aura around skipper MS Dhoni and his team these days that irrespective of the geographical location,the spotlight...

Such is the aura around skipper MS Dhoni and his team these days that irrespective of the geographical location,the spotlight diligently follows them. At the Premadasa Stadium where they headed after a quick pit stop at the team hotel the arrival of the Indians triggered hectic activity. The security cordon might have kept the fans following the team bus out of the stadium,but the ground staff and the net bowlers inside were also star-struck.

The Indians have been frequent visitors to these parts,and have developed a bond with the locals. The smattering of Sinhalese emerging from the ground staff is all about Sachin,Dravid,Dhoni and Yuvraj and,a bit surprisingly,Ashish Nehra.

The comeback man has a Colombo connection that the old-timers dont seem to forget. He made his Test debut here in 1999,and his last high with Team India before his long injury break was the six-wicket haul in Colombo four years ago.

The Indian team took the extra attention in their stride as they got to work under lights. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid had long batting stints and seemed happy to find the middle of the bat.

Changed line-up

With their inclusion in the XI,the Indian batting line-up will be very different from the one that took the field in the last series against the West Indies. Tendulkar is expected to open the innings,with Dravid coming at one-drop. That would mean that Dinesh Karthick,who opened in the Caribbean with Gautam Gambhir,will find it hard to retain his place in the XI,while skipper Dhoni,in all probability,will vacate the No 3 spot and drop down the order.

Indian coach Gary Kirsten,before boarding the flight from Chennai,suggested that players would be rotated during the series. We have tremendous depth in our team. Some of the younger players have proven their worth and are capable of cementing their places in the team. Wherever possible,we need to give them opportunities to play,give them as much exposure as possible leading up to World Cup, he said.

But the most important thing,he asserted,was winning as many matches as they could. Keeping that in mind,the Indians are unlikely to experiment too much in this tri-series with each team playing the other just once,the margin for error is small.

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As all-rounder Yusuf Pathan took a great diving catch,Kirsten seemed pleased. Good stuff,keep it going, he said. With one false move enough to cut this trip short,each member of the side will need to stay on his toes.