If they play true to form

Lankan can upset the indians

And so the day has dawned. The day on which cricket’s 2011 one-day world champions will be crowned. Will it be Sri Lanka or India? The teams will meet in the final at the Wankhede Stadium, today.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the sports loving President has requested all Sri Lankans to rally round the Sri Lankan cricketers and help them win the World Cup as a tribute to champion bowler Muttiah Muralitheran who the President described as a spirited and true Sri Lankan.

The finalists have sweated and toiled for long coming through the preliminaries, quarters and semis and taken their rightful place in the prestigious final. They have borne their burden well and have deservedly taken the top spots.

The ultimate

The final is the ultimate in one-day cricket. The winners will pocket prize money of US$ 3 million. In addition to the big prize money, pride and status is at stake and the winner will be cricket kings till the next World Cup comes around in 2015.

While India will have the majority on the ground cheering for them, Sri Lanka too will not lack for want of crowd support. Sri Lankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka have arranged special flights to take cricket fans to Mumbai and from reports all flights have been fully booked.

From the 12 teams that entered the cricketing ring and fought furiously for a place in the final, Sri Lanka and India were finally the cricket god’s chosen two.

No ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’

And when the action begins there will be no room of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. The centre will represent a theatre of cricketing war and the twenty two gladiators will be the Sri Lankans and Indians.

There should be no room for a dropped catch, a run out, a wide or a no ball. Any of these lapses could prove fatal and could go to deprive a team that all important victory.

Sri Lankans will surely take the field with that second to none feeling and their spirit will prevail from the first ball to overcome pressure. The team has it in them to perform to world class standards. They will play as we know they can to gain the trophy they deserve.

Complacency

There is no doubt that the Sri Lanka cricketers will guard against complacency and surely will not underestimate the Indians .

The Indians playing at home and before their wildly cheering and adoring fans will come out firing and will leave no room for questions to be asked.

True the Indians have some outstanding cricketers. But they must not be made to look larger than life.

If the Lankans believe in themselves and play to their potential they can make the Indians come second.

Having said that, there is no doubt that winning of the toss will be important. But losing the toss should not mean losing the match. The early freshness of the wicket and the new ball should help the bowlers early on.

Nursing injuries

At the time of writing, the talk is that Muttiah Muralitheran and Angelo Mathews are nursing injuries. But they are tough cricketers with resolve and commitment. They will rise to the occasion. and prove that adversity brings out heroes.

Winning of the toss will mean half the battle won. A formidable score, something around 280 to 300 should put us in the comfort zone. But that does not mean that we should take it easy.

Easy to chase

In this World Cup it has been noted that it is easy to chase a big score and win rather than chase a small score and win. So it must be remembered that a match is not won or lost till the final ball is bowled.

The marching orders to openers Upul Tharanga and Tillekeratne Dilshan will surely be to start with caution before launching.

A good start is paramount for the rest of the batsmen to consolidate and build on.

Again Skipper Kumar Sangakkara will have to continue his good form. He has to, like he has been doing with the bat with responsibility. Mahela Jayawardena had a rare failure against New Zealand. He has the knack of coming good on the big occasion. And this could be that occasion.

With the middle batting brittle, especially with Chamara Silva completely out of depth, it would not be a bad idea to bat Silva at number four and ask him to have a go.

Pressure situations

With him out of form, he has had to bat in pressure situations. And that has further compounded his problems.

At four and less pressure he should deliver. Jayawardena could bat in Silva’s position.

Thilan Samaraweera seems to be finally finding his touch. Mathews and Samaraweera must add muscle to the batting. Mathews if he is fully fit will be threat to the Indian bowlers.

Lasith Malinga must be spot on with his in swinging yorkers. Sangakkara is sure to open with one of the spinners. It is now the fashion for teams to open bowling with spinners.

Indians fear Murali

But the man the Indians fear most is Muttiah Muralitheran. Muralitheran’s ‘doosra’ is his wicket taking weapon and that is the delivery that the Indian batsmen will struggle against.

Virender Sehwag will once again look to smash the Lankan attack. Tendulkar will be hungry for runs and will want to notch up his 100th 100 on this big occasion.

Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kholi and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are all quick scoring batsmen. The bowlers will have to lure them to a run drought zone and unsettle them.

Spin heavy

The Indians too are likely to go in spin heavy. The wicket will be a slow one and be helpful to the spinners as the game progresses. Who will ultimately be crowned winners only the final ball will tell.