Friday the 23rd could either be known as an outstanding day in India’s World Cup campaign or it could be thought of as a day as inauspicious as Friday the 13th! Unfortunately, it does have the same ring and sound to it! Without sounding defeatist, one has to acknowledge that the task facing India is an uphill one with Sri Lanka looking in World Cup-winning form.
India’s batting has come good in the previous match but that was a Bermuda bowling attach without the fire that Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga and Fervez Maharoof will come with. And then there’s the small matter of an in-form Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumara Sangakkara.
India has a few things to sort out before the match. They have already tried two opening partnerships with neither coming good. For a big match like this, though, the decision will not be easy. There will be the temptation of pushing up Tendulkar to open with Ganguly but his batting down the order against Bermuda was inspirational to say the least. Opening with Uthappa will offer some more leniency down the order, but India will need a good start whether they bat first or second.
Which brings us to another major problem: bat first or second? The easiest option will be to lose the toss and not have to make the decision. But should India win the toss, batting second would give India a better chance on two fronts. One, they can use the early morning pitch and second, have an exact idea of what to do when they bat.
It is important for India, though, to go into the match with a positive frame of mind keeping in mind recent successes against the Sri Lankans. Unfortunately, these were achieved against a team without Murali or Vaas. And Jayawardene was also out of form then. All these things have changed and India has a much tougher task ahead. Are they up to it?
The big three of Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly need to score and India has to ensure early wickets whether they bowl first or second. Sounds simple and all the theories and plans will now need to be put to test. Today could well be the day when India is either sent packing back home or kickstarts their campaign. Let’s not even worry about the Bermuda versus Bangladesh match.