After the unfortunate departure of the Windies, Team India faces a new challenger before embarking on the tour Down Under. Both sides would be looking to give important match practice to some of their vital cogs, while India has also decided to rest their Captain. It means Virat Kohli leads the side, and Wriddhiman Saha comes as the gloveman in the side. Wriddiman being rewarded for his recent form especially in the IPL. But it would have been interesting to give a chance to Robin Uthappa who can keep wickets, something he has been doing for the Kolkata Knight Riders of late with reasonable success. His presence in the side would have meant no room for Murali Vijay, who has been a passenger in the last few series. With Rohit most likely to come back to reoccupy the opening slot vacated by him and partnering Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay looks likely to continue cooling his heels for some time.
For the Indians, its also the right time to check the fitness and form of the quicker bowlers like Varun Aaron. Varun can be an asset if he can keep up the energy and the accuracy, especially the latter which has been often lacking. He is the quickest bowler in the side, but speed is not enough to rattle international batsmen these days. You need nagging accuracy and the guile to out think the man with the willow standing on the other end of the 22 yards.
The Lankans are on a surprise tour, more or less, and would be under prepared. They would take the tour as a preparation for the larger goal. To reach the finals of another world event. The Lankans have been in more finals than most other sides since 2012 and they would know what it takes to be there. The old warhorses in the batting unit are still worth their money in gold. Between Mahela, Sangakkara and Dilshan is a mammoth experience of 1079 One Day Internationals which has yielded 32,625 runs for Srilanka with 51 tons between them !!! That looks like Guinness Book stuff !! But their stewardship will be nullified if they do not get valuable support from the younger generation. So the Tharangas, Mathews and Pereras would have to come to the party, otherwise it is going to be a one way traffic. Especially Mathews. 2014 has been a good year for Angelo, and he has amassed 700+ runs with an average of 60.25 with 6 innings of 50 or more.
In 133 career ODI matches, he has never notched up a 3 figure score, something he must be dearly wanting to have. The Indian pitches especially the one at Cuttack is a good opportunity to convert good starts into big scores.
The match is expected to be a run fest, and both teams will have to bat out of their skins. Another 27 year old, Suresh Raina, gets to play his 200th one day game for India, becoming only the 12th Indian player to be able to do so. The last Indian to achieve that feat was Harbhajan Singh. So it is no mean feat, inspite of the number of ODIs being played nowadays. Hats off to his fitness and his ability to carve a niche for himself over the years without any known Godfathers. In 171 innings, he has more often than not batted at 5 or 6 and his ODI average of under 36 is a testimony to this fact. Raina is also expected to cross another important landmark of 5000 career ODI runs during this series. He is 44 runs away, and this means only Captain Virat Kohli has more runs to his name than him in the present squad. Having already overtaken Navjot Singh Siddhu and Kapil Dev, two great stalwarts of the limited overs game, he is inching towards becoming a future legend.
Even though matches with Srilanka do not inspire the same emotion as maybe with Pakistan, Australia or England, but the Lankans are worthy opponents. They play spin well, so the usual tactics do not stand a chance. Indian quicks could be the surprise package in this series. Every speedster in the Indian side knows this is his chance to a ticket to the World Cup !
The Lankans are on a surprise tour, more or less, and would be under prepared. They would take the tour as a preparation for the larger goal. To reach the finals of another world event. The Lankans have been in more finals than most other sides since 2012 and they would know what it takes to be there. The old warhorses in the batting unit are still worth their money in gold. Between Mahela, Sangakkara and Dilshan is a mammoth experience of 1079 One Day Internationals which has yielded 32,625 runs for Srilanka with 51 tons between them !!! That looks like Guinness Book stuff !! But their stewardship will be nullified if they do not get valuable support from the younger generation. So the Tharangas, Mathews and Pereras would have to come to the party, otherwise it is going to be a one way traffic. Especially Mathews. 2014 has been a good year for Angelo, and he has amassed 700+ runs with an average of 60.25 with 6 innings of 50 or more.
The match is expected to be a run fest, and both teams will have to bat out of their skins. Another 27 year old, Suresh Raina, gets to play his 200th one day game for India, becoming only the 12th Indian player to be able to do so. The last Indian to achieve that feat was Harbhajan Singh. So it is no mean feat, inspite of the number of ODIs being played nowadays. Hats off to his fitness and his ability to carve a niche for himself over the years without any known Godfathers. In 171 innings, he has more often than not batted at 5 or 6 and his ODI average of under 36 is a testimony to this fact. Raina is also expected to cross another important landmark of 5000 career ODI runs during this series. He is 44 runs away, and this means only Captain Virat Kohli has more runs to his name than him in the present squad. Having already overtaken Navjot Singh Siddhu and Kapil Dev, two great stalwarts of the limited overs game, he is inching towards becoming a future legend.
Even though matches with Srilanka do not inspire the same emotion as maybe with Pakistan, Australia or England, but the Lankans are worthy opponents. They play spin well, so the usual tactics do not stand a chance. Indian quicks could be the surprise package in this series. Every speedster in the Indian side knows this is his chance to a ticket to the World Cup !
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