TheSportsCampus

The two finalists of last year's ICC Cricket World Cup are set to clash in what promises to be yet another high-voltage encounter at  the WACA in Perth on Wednesday. India will be eager to get on the board after a morale shattering loss to Australia in the first ODI of the tri-nation series, while Sri Lanka will be buoyed and raring to avenge their World Cup loss to India following a very satisfying end to an otherwise ordinary tour of South Africa. These two Asian giants, slated as underdogs for the series behind hosts Australia, will know that a win is absolutely vital to their chances of making it to the best of 3 finals, albeit this being just the 2nd of many ODIs to come.

(Click here for the Match Report)

India:

India could not repeat their sterling performance in the T20 in Melbourne in the first ODI of the series as they slumped to a deflating loss, conceding a bonus point to the hosts in the process. Dhoni and his men will be looking to resurrect their fortunes in Perth. The main reason for India's failure on this tour is without doubt the inconsistency in their batting with several top order batsmen failing collectively as a unit.

Suresh Raina's dismissal to the short ball against Australia the other night did not do him much good and he could be under the hammer for a place in the side for this game, with Virender Sehwag likely to make a return after just a 1 match hiatus. The other batsmen who face the axe are one among Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma, with the latter being the most likely candidate in-case Dhoni decides to play Raina.

India's bowling was under the pump in the shortened game with Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja taken to the cleaners in that fixture. But a lot of that could be attributed to India not getting their composition right as they looked clearly short of a third seamer. Hence, we could see the return of Umesh Yadav in Perth, most likely at the expense of Ravi Ashwin. The rest of the bowling looked fine but there could be temptation to field the extra seamer in the form of Irfan Pathan in Perth, in place of Ravindra Jadeja at No.7.

Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka come to Australia with a renewed sense of self belief thanks to their performance in the last two ODIs in South Africa which saw them chase down two totals in excess of 300 against a good bowling attack. They seem to have found a couple of good young batsmen in Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirmanne for the one day format, which augurs very well for them in this series. Their top six looks very solid on paper which includes champion batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene along with the explosive Tilakaratne Dilshan.

Their bowling looks short of experience barring the likes of Lasith Malinga, who like always, will be their trump card in this series too. Ranganna Herath looks all set to occupy the lone spinner slot with Nuwan Kulasekara being the only other certainty in their bowling department, filled with youngsters.

Likely XIs:

India:

Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, G Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, R Jadeja/Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Rahul Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar

Sri Lanka:

T Dilshan, U Tharanga, K Sangakkara, M Jayawardene, D Chandimal, A Matthews, L Thirmanne, T Perera, L Malinga, N Kulasekara, R Herath

Players to watch:

MS Dhoni : The Indian captain has been in sparkling form in ODIs recently and his performances against Sri Lanka have always been outstanding.

Kumar Sangakkara: This classy left hander has been a consistent performer for the island nation for many years and they will need him to fire once again if they have to upstage the world champions.

Recent form:

India : L W W

Feb 5th 2012: lost to Australia by 65 runs (D/L)
11th Dec 2011: beat WI by 34 runs
8th Dec 2011: beat WI by 153 runs

Sri Lanka: W W L

22nd Jan 2012: Beat SA by 2 wickets
20 Jan 2012: Beat SA by 5 wickets
17th Jan 2012: Lost to SA by 4 runs

Pitch and conditions: The pitch at the WACA has always aided fast bowers and it promises to be the same this time around too while true bounce will mean the batsmen will enjoy the ball coming on to the bat.

Match Prediction: India should be upstage Sri Lanka to register their first win in the series.

File Photograph Copyright: ICC World T20