Sri Lanka will have to mount out of the box effort vs India

In a type of musical cushions scenario of when one ace sits out and is back in the pack, the other ace sits out, indeed would be bleeding highly decimating factor going in to the crunch win or drop out contest against high riding India, the reigning champions tomorrow Thursday at the Oval. Regular skipper Angelo Mathews is back in the pack for the crucial match having been injury sidelined in he opener versus South Africa. But in the return of the side’s most tried and tested campaigner, that the inform opening batsman Upul Tharanga, who held the reins in the lost match to South Africa, being a conspicuous sit out  against India tomorrow penalized for slow overate against South Africa, is the debilitating blow to the Sri Lankan camp. Tharanga top scored in that game holding the batting together to a point against the turning odds from a glorious start with co-opener Niroshan Dickwella. Certainly it will be minus an ace that Sri Lanka will need to compensate for in a desolate looking situation of overwhelming a thus unassailable India leading Group A, and hinting of knocking out the young relatively inexperienced Sri Lanka. Defeat tomorrow would effectively put Sri Lanka out of the championship.

Analytically, it will be a knocking the head against rock like proposition of Mathews’ charges going past a highly professional India whose skipper Virat Kohli has alre,ady set a characteristic lead from the front  tone by his magical willow works that fetched him 81 in thrashing arch rivals Pakistan. The batting line up runs strong in the likes of Rohit Sharma, Dhawan in that order, and happily for India the pleasingly bludgeoning Yuvraj Singh effect of old at No. 4 after Kohli whose whirlwind half century took the breath out of Pakistan. Yuvraj’s presence must be read as a huge plus factor to India in a at long last return to the fold after several years winning a life threatening battle against a malignant tumour in his lung.

In effect, it will be a ground situation reality of having to do the best with the available resources for Sri Lanka where in all probability pinch hitter Thisara Perera will fill in for Tharanga in a scenario where the Sri Lankan camp will have to back hopes that he would fire with the top order doing it right up. The Lankan fast bowlers – Malinga, Pradeep and Lakmal did an admirable job against South Africa, and it is hoped Mathews and Thisara Perera would be the lending medium pace impetus along with Asela Gunaratne and the sole spinner Seekuge Prasanna. Of course, the last two fell short of expectations against the Proteas, a factor lamented by Kumar Sangakkara in the commentary box; that they lacked the variety to worry the South Africans.

By Srian Obeyesekere

-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-