India hope to assert dominance over Lanka

Having comprehensively beaten a full strength Sri Lanka at home last month, in-form India will hope to have it easy when they take on the injury-ravaged islanders in their opening match of the tri-series in Mirpur on Tuesday.

India first beat Sri Lanka with consummate ease in the three-match Test series (2-0), and then compounded the visitors' problem when they pocketed the five-match ODI series 3-1.

And with the Lankans fielding a depleted side for the series, also involving hosts Bangladesh, a win in Tuesday's match should not be a difficult task for the Indians.

Subsequently, barely a month after becoming the number one Test team, India would also be gunning for a spot in ODIs as well.

If India keep a clean slate in the tri-series and Pakistan beat Australia comprehensively in the forthcoming five-ODI series Down Under, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men would dislodge the Aussies, who are just seven points ahead, from the top spot.

The Indians had a successful 2009 with four series wins, including two against Sri Lanka. However, they lost to Australia at home and crashed out in the group stage from the Champions Trophy in South Africa, and consistency is something Dhoni and his men would be looking for this year.

And, before departing for the series, Dhoni and his deputy Virender Sehwag had already made it clear that they would be aiming for consistency in the 50-over format.

Batting has been India's strong point in recent times and Sachin Tendulkar's absence, who has opted out of the tournament, would hardly make any difference.

The return of Yuvraj Singh, who missed the last three ODIs against Sri Lanka, will also strengthen the already formidable Indian middle order, although it is not yet certain whether he will play on Tuesday.

In Tendulkar's absence, in-form Gautam Gambhir will partner Sehwag at the top and the dashing Delhi duo would be looking to provide a strong start to the Indian innings.

Sehwag, in particular, would be looking to do well in the tri-series as he does not have an impressive record in Bangladesh so far in his career.

While India does not have much worry on the batting front, they certainly have issues with bowling at the death and fielding, and Dhoni would be hoping for a better show from his team in these two areas.

Indian fielding, particularly catching, has been horrible during the home series against Sri Lanka and the return of Yuvraj and Rohit will undoubtedly give Dhoni some reasons to smile.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, would be relying heavily on their batting, especially Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga and captain Kumar Sangakkara to come good in the series in the absence of Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, and Angelo Mathews.

With the Lankans fielding a second string side for the tournament, 20-year-old batsman Lahiru Thirimanne is expected to get his maiden international cap.

Sri Lanka's inexperience is most pronounced on the bowling front with Nuwan Kulasekara being the most capped player with 60-odd ODIs. He will be sharing the new ball with rookie Chanaka Welegedara and Suranga Lakmal.

In the spin department, rookie offie Suraj Randiv and comeback man Malinga Bandara would lead the charge.

The Sqauds (From):

India: MS Dhoni (Capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh, Sudeep Tyagi, Dinesh Karthik, S Sreesanth, Ashok Dinda, Amit Mishra.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (Capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Thilina Kandamby, Lahiru Thirimanne, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Thissara Perera, Malinga Bandara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Suraj Randiv, Suranga Lakmal, Chanaka Welegedara.