Lankans hoping to retain crown
Asia Cup cricket from today :
Asia’s Test-playing nations begin their preparations for next year’s
World Cup when they contest the region’s top one-day prize from today.
Away from the global spotlight on the football World Cup in South
Africa, the four-nation Asia Cup will be played in Dambulla over the
next 10 days.
India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who co-host the cricket World Cup in
February-April, will be joined by Pakistan in a round-robin preliminary
league with the top two teams contesting the final on June 24.
Sri Lanka, who won the last Asia Cup in Pakistan two years ago, have
left out ageing batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and unorthodox spinner Ajantha
Mendis for the tournament.
Jayasuriya, who turns 41 later this month, is the most experienced
one-day batsman in the world with 444 appearances and second in the
leading scorers’ list with 13,428 runs behind Tendulkar’s 17,598.
“This is a good chance to test our strengths and weaknesses and also
see how the others are faring on the way to the World Cup,” Indian
captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
India go into the tournament hoping to make amends for their failure
to reach the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.
A second-string side then lost twice to hosts Zimbabwe in a recent
one-day tri-series also featuring Sri Lanka, exposing a weak bench that
does not augur well for the World Cup.
India, who face Bangladesh in their first match tomorrow, are without
veteran Sachin Tendulkar, the world’s most prolific Test and one-day
batsman, who opted to rest ahead of a busy season. Also missing is
one-day regular Yuvraj Singh, who was dropped due to poor form after
scoring just 74 runs in five World Twenty20 matches. In five one-day
internationals this year, the left-hander has managed only 96 runs.
Pakistan, preparing to clash with holders Sri Lanka in Tuesday’s
opener, have recalled mercurial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar for the first
time since May last year when he was sidelined with a knee injury.
Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi leads a talented Pakistani squad
which includes three promising batsmen in Umar Amin, 21, Shahzaib Hasan,
20, and Asad Shafiq, 24.
Bangladesh hope to regroup on the slow Dambulla wickets after being
beaten by England in both Tests on seam-friendly tracks at Lord’s and
Old Trafford.
AFP |