Triangular series gets under way today for Unitech Cup

CRICKET: The much awaited Unitech Cup Triangular limited overs cricket tournament will finally get under way today but the opening match between Sri Lanka and India is likely to be interrupted by the bad weather at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Heavy rains continued until late last evening in Colombo although the sun did shine during the morning and afternoon sessions.

The outfield at the Premadasa Stadium looked still damp and the ground staff was working round the clock to get the match started at the schedule time of 2.00 p.m.

The tournament of course is quite a significant one for the Lankans because they are in the process of consolidating their position in the International Cricket Council one-day rankings.

They have just completed a historic five nil whitewash over England away and another good performance will certainly put them among the top three in the rankings.

In contrast the Indians are hoping to regroup after their one-day series defeat at the hands of the West Indies in the Caribbean recently.

The other important fact for the Indian team is the return of master batsman Sachin Tendulkar who anyway will be under tremendous pressure to perform after having recovered from an injury which kept him out of the West Indies tour.

The teams:

SRI LANKA (from): Mahela Jayawardena (captain), Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya Tillekeratne Dilshan, Marvan Atapattu, Chamara Kapugedera, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara, Ruchira Perera and Prasanna Jayawardena.

INDIA (from): Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahedra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, Harbajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel, Rudra Prathap Singh, Dinesh Mongia.