World Cup finalists meet in very different circumstances

India v Sri Lanka, CB Series, Perth
World Cup finalists meet in very different circumstances
The Preview by Nitin Sundar
February 7, 2012

Match facts

February 8, Perth
Start time 1220 (0420 GMT)

Big Picture

Just over 10 months have passed since that Wankhede night, last April. Within that period, the fates of the two teams that brought the best out of each other in that memorable World Cup final have nose-dived in bizarre style. India have been mercilessly stripped of their No. 1 Test ranking, the sunset on their golden generation of batsmen hastened by eight successive away drubbings. But their one-day outfit still holds promise, with the energy of fresh legs and the power of broad bats, for the moment at least, masking the worry of poor techniques on quick pitches.

Sri Lanka have had it worse. Finishing second-best in two successive World Cup finals is a tragedy in itself, but even that pales in comparison to what has transpired since. They have endured series after wretched series, home and away, against Australia, Pakistan and South Africa, with no silverware to show for their efforts except in the Twenty20 format. Their players haven't been paid by a board that is now bankrupt. Battered on the field and off it, Sri Lanka are already under their third captain since the World Cup. Mahela Jayawardene led them in the 2008 edition of the CB series, and his reluctant return to the musical chair gives rise to the uneasy feeling that Sri Lanka haven't progressed in four seasons.

Both teams are desperate for the familiarity of better times, and their first encounter since Wankhede will provide them just that. No two sides have played each other more often in ODI history, especially in recent years - 34 of their 129 clashes came between 2008 and 2010. This series kicks off another glut of games between these thick foes, with the Asia Cup and a bilateral series in Sri Lanka to follow in quick succession. Establishing early supremacy in Australia could prove integral in determining which side heals better in the coming months.

Form guide

India LWWLW (Most recent first)

Sri Lanka WWLLL

In the spotlight

MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag haven't played together in an ODI since the World Cup final, though they have individually featured in 11 and four games, respectively. When Sehwag's been fit, Dhoni has been rested. When Sehwag was expected to play, he was 'rested' in the first game of this series. Murmurs of dressing-room disagreements between India's captain and vice-captain mean their internal dynamics will be scrutinised when they take the field in Perth. Signs are that Sehwag will play - you normally don't 'rest' a batsman who smashed the highest score in ODI history in his last outing.

India wouldn't have forgotten Thisara Perera who thumped them to all corners of Mumbai in the end overs of the World Cup final. It wasn't the first time Perera showcased his big-hitting skills through the leg side, and it wasn't the last. More recently, he cracked five sixes in an unbeaten 69 off 44 balls to help Sri Lanka chase 300 against South Africa. His late-swinging yorkers could make him effective at the back-end of Sri Lanka's bowling innings too.

Team news

India won the last edition of the CB series by playing to the conditions, as opposed to their traditional strengths. Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth, all played big roles with the new ball, while spin was relegated to a support role. MS Dhoni went the other way on Sunday, and the move backfired when India's three inexperienced spinners came unstuck in a rain-reduced game. The Perth track will be more amenable to pace, and Dhoni will consider bringing in Pathan for Ravindra Jadeja, whose 2.4 overs leaked 41 runs against Australia. Sehwag is expected to play, with Gautam Gambhir making way at the top of the order. Zaheer Khan or Umesh Yadav could be in line for a call-up too, since India could do with an extra yard of pace.

India: (possible) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Irfan Pathan/Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Vinay Kumar, 10 & 11 Praveen Kumar/Umesh Yadav/Zaheer Khan

Injury kept Jayawardene out of the latter stages of the ODI-leg of the South Africa tour. He will resurface in the middle order on Wednesday. On form, Angelo Mathews should make way, but the axe is likely to fall on Lahiru Thirimanne who hit a match-winning 69 in the final ODI in South Africa.

Sri Lanka: (possible) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Dinesh Chandimal, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Chanaka Welegedara/Dhammika Prasad

Pitch and conditions

The WACA strip was zippy in the Test match, and is expected to behave similarly, but it would require bowlers with real pace to make that count. The conditions in Perth are dry and hot, meaning the pitch has cracks to go with its green tinge. The teams will have an interesting time zeroing in on their bowling units.

Stats and trivia

India hold the advantage against Sri Lanka in ODIs, with a 68-50 head-to-head record. They also have a 2-1 advantage in games in Australia.

Only one batsman has scored over 3000 runs against one particular team - Sachin Tendulkar against Australia (3060). If he gets 18 runs on Wednesday, he would have repeated the feat against Sri Lanka.

Quotes

"I think they haven't played really well in the Test series. That's a plus point for us. [But] They are a different team when it comes to the one-dayers. We are up for it and we are ready to go."

Angelo Mathews isn't taking India lightly

"[On] Any day, any team can beat anybody."

Much like his batting, Virender Sehwag keeps his predictions for the series simple

Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Virender Sehwag 219

India v West Indies, 4th ODI, Indore

Sehwag wins series for India with record 219

The Report by George Binoy

December 8, 2011

It took nearly four decades for a batsman to score the first double-century in one-day international cricket but less than two years for the second. Virender Sehwag, the batsman most touted to break Sachin Tendulkar's record for the highest individual ODI score, didn't merely break it - he shattered it and raised the bar so high that it's hard to imagine anyone, apart from Sehwag himself, raising it higher.

Unlike Tendulkar in Gwalior, Sehwag wasn't running out of time as he raced towards 200 in Indore. He got there in the 44th over and had made 219 off 149 balls by the time he was dismissed in the 47th. And in one of cricket's stranger coincidences, both ODI double-centuries were scored in the same Indian state - Madhya Pradesh - at venues less than 500 kilometres apart.

Virender Sehwag 219

Sehwag's performance led India to 418 for 5, their highest ODI total, and sealed victory in the five-match series against West Indies. It was an innings characteristic of Sehwag's approach to batting. He hit his second ball for four and simply did not stop. He took plenty of risks too, surviving two run-out chances and two dropped catches, but thundered on, ensuring India's run-rate stayed above seven after the 15th over. Sehwag's only out-of-character moment came in the 20th over, when he dived to avoid being run out. Sehwag never dives. It was a sign that he was determined to stay the course. He went to 50 off 41 balls, to 100 off 69 balls, to 150 off 112 and past 200 off 140. The record was broken with a withering cut that sped to the backward-point boundary, and he celebrated with an aggressive fist-pump before breaking into a smile.

Before this game, and after each of the previous three, Sehwag had admitted that the top-order failures, which he contributed to, were the reason India had struggled in their chases. Sehwag had made a duck in the previous match in Ahmedabad, where India lost, but led by example today.

India did two things differently at the Holkar Cricket Stadium. They chose to bat for the first time in the series and also opened with their strongest combination, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, pushing Parthiv Patel down the order. The upshot of those decisions was an opening partnership of 176 that began smoothly, picked up speed, and gathered the momentum of a runaway train before it was eventually ended, inevitably, by a run-out.

A strong crowd continued the trend of resurging attendances during the home ODIs and they cheered the first boundary in the second over, when Sehwag flicked Ravi Rampaul's first ball for four - a welcome he would give several other West Indian bowlers. Sehwag looked dangerous from the start. Gambhir did not. After making only 3 off 15 balls, Gambhir finally had the width he needed and cut Kemar Roach to the point boundary.

Both batsmen could have been dismissed on 20, though. Sehwag had given up hope of making his ground but Kieron Pollard missed the stumps from point, and Andre Russell dropped Gambhir on his follow through. Gambhir began to steer, cut and drive through the off side frequently, going over fielders' heads and placing wide of the boundary riders. Seven of his first nine fours were in this region. India ended the mandatory Powerplay on 63 for 0.

The field spread after that but it didn't matter. Sehwag and Gambhir scored 45 runs between overs 11 and 15. This passage began with Sehwag hoisting the offspinner Sunil Narine's first ball over the long-on boundary. He then launched Darren Sammy's first inside out over extra cover. This passage ended with Sehwag hammering Narine again, this time into the stands beyond deep midwicket.

The field came in for the bowling Powerplay and Gambhir immediately cut Roach through point, and then dabbed for a single to reach his half-century off 51 balls. The smash-and-dab combo was a feature of the partnership. Sehwag got to his hundred with a fierce cut, hit in the air, brushing the fingertips of the leaping fielder at point before speeding to the boundary. The next ball, he ran Gambhir out, to a direct hit from Samuels. Visibly upset with himself, Sehwag continued to punish West Indies.

When he was hitting fours, Sehwag preferred to go square of the wicket, flicking and glancing the numerous deliveries he received on the pads, and opening the face to pepper the backward-point boundary. When he wanted six, he usually went straighter, targeting the arc between midwicket and long-on. He hit 25 fours and seven sixes in all. On 170, in the 38th over, Sehwag spooned Rampaul towards cover, where Sammy dropped a dolly, leaving the bowler distraught.

The rest of the innings was a blur of boundaries and landmarks. Suresh Raina got to his half-century off 42 balls. India reached 300 in 39.1 overs. Sehwag broke his personal best - 175 against Bangladesh in the World Cup - with a flick to the square-leg boundary. He went past 8000 ODI runs with a chip over the fielder at short fine leg. That shot took him from 191 to 195, and soon he was cutting Russell to send India into rapture. When Sehwag was dismissed - lofting Pollard to the substitute Anthony Martin at long-off - most of the West Indian fielders came from far and wide to shake his hand.

Sehwag did not come out to field - the only blot on his performance - and watched from the dressing room as West Indies' top-order batsmen crashed and burned amid a flurry of shots. India's debutant legspinner Rahul Sharma struck with the last ball of each of his first three overs in international cricket, bowling Marlon Samuels, Danza Hyatt and Pollard to leave West Indies reeling at 100 for 5.

Rahul, who's been in India's squads since the home ODIs against England but stayed on the bench, bowled a variety of deliveries. He sent down legbreaks, googlies and topspinners at varying speeds, but it was the one delivered quicker that brought him success.

Samuels tried to cut a fast topspinner but bottom-edged it onto his stumps. Hyatt then stepped out of the crease, but was yorked by a fast legbreak. The ball pitched outside leg stump and spun between the batsman's pads to bowl him. Pollard was the next to go, swinging across the line and missing a topspinner that clipped off stump.

After losing more wickets, West Indies decided to bat out time instead of playing shots, and the match ended in stark contrast to how it began - tamely. Denesh Ramdin, however, made 96, his best score and the highest by a West Indies wicketkeeper in ODIs. His 64-run partnership with No. 11 Sunil Narine merely kept India on the field longer than they would have liked.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s PP1 PP2 PP3 Last 10 overs NB/Wides India 86 48 7 63-0 41-0 (15.1-20) 48-0 (35.1-40) 107-4 0/13 West Indies 158 31 7 64-2 22-1 (15.1-20) 37-1 (35.1-40) 54-0 0/2

George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo