Daijiworld Media Network

Dhaka, Mar 1 : The Asia Cup is nearing its business end and the tussle for a place in the final is hotting up. With two wins from two matches, India are in pole position and will all but confirm their place in the final - if they are to win tonight. On the other hand, Sri Lanka haven't quite turned up as yet and are in desperate need of a victory - not just to keep themselves alive in the tournament, but also to lift their sagging spirits, after having lost to Bangladesh in their previous encounter. The two teams recently featured in a 3-match T20I series, with India winning 2-1. Form predicts an easy Indian victory today, but T20I is more than just about form. Can Sri Lanka burst India's bubble and keep themselves in contention? Hello and a warm welcome to Match 7 of the 2016 edition of the Asia Cup.

Match Preview:

Injuries and pitch conditions are amongst the primary focus a day ahead of India's match against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup on Tuesday (March 1). Both teams will be hampered with injuries to key players and might feel the sting of not playing their best eleven.

For Sri Lanka, it is a must-win game. They will now have to beat both India and Pakistan to stand a chance to qualify for the final. The fitness of regular skipper Lasith Malinga will be their biggest concern ahead of the important clash.

Malinga missed their previous game against Bangladesh due to a niggle in the knee. The game before that, against UAE, was his first game in three months and he pulled up sore after picking up a match-winning four-wicket haul. Angelo Mathews, stand-in skipper, was unsure about Malinga's availability for the rest of the tournament and the Lankans will not rest easy if the pacer does pull out of the game against India.

MS Dhoni and Co. have their own set of worries as well. The skipper himself is playing through this tournament with a back brace, despite spasms. There is a back-up option of Parthiv Patel but it looks likely that Parthiv might step in for one of the regular openers in this game. Both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are nursing injuries.

Rohit suffered a blow on his left toe, which forced him to go for scans. Although the scans did not reveal a crack, Rohit did not take part in the training session ahead of the game against Sri Lanka. Dhawan, who missed the game against Pakistan due to an injury to his left heel, was seen wearing a bandage but still managed to do a few fitness drills before going out to have a hit. If both of them miss out, then it will force the team to make a few changes right from the top.

A straightforward move could be to draft in Parthiv as an opener but Team India will also consider the option of pushing Kohli to open and drafting in Pawan Negi to bolster the batting in the lower-middle order.

The pitches that have been provided so far in Dhaka have all aided the seamers to a large extent. The last time India faced Sri Lanka on a green-top in Pune, their batting crumbled against a young Sri Lankan pace attack. This time around the islanders have a more potent new-ball bowlers in Nuwan Kulasekara and Angelo Mathews but India's batting has also shown a marked improvement in such conditions.

With Kohli and Rohit showing the technical nous to shore up the batting in similar conditions, it does appear that India have that front sorted.
The same cannot be said about Sri Lanka though. Their batting came a cropper twice in succession. With the exception of Dinesh Chandimal, none of the others have shown an inclination to stick around and milk runs, as Mathews conceded. Chandimal himself was guilty of throwing away a good start against Bangladesh.

But Sri Lanka still possess a line-up that bats very deep. They will be banking on the others to come good soon enough. Tillakaratne Dilshan will be under focus. In the absence of experience down the order, the pressure on the senior opener to deliver becomes even more acute. He hasn't found his touch so far and he'd do well to pace his innings better. Sri Lanka will need him to set up the ideal base for the power-hitters down the order like Thisara Perera and Dasun Sanaka to capitalise.

India need another win to put them in pole position to grab a spot in the final. Form isn't a concern for Dhoni's men but man-management will be critical in the build-up to the World T20. They will tread carefully before taking a call on fielding players with niggles with the big tournament following soon after. It will be interesting to see how they tackle this tricky situation.

Teams:

Sri Lanka (From): Dinesh Chandimal(w), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Shehan Jayasuriya, Angelo Mathews, Milinda Siriwardana, Chamara Kapugedera, Dasun Shanaka, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dushmantha Chameera, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga(c), Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake, Jeffrey Vandersay, Niroshan Dickwella

India (From): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Ajinkya Rahane, Harbhajan Singh, Pawan Negi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Parthiv Patel