***Official*** India in Sri Lanka

[biased indian]

SLC have announced the dates

India's itinerary
January 28 - 1st ODI at Dambulla (d/n)

January 30 - 2nd ODI at Dambulla (d/n)

February 2 - 3rd ODI at R Premadasa Stadium (d/n)

February 5 - 4th ODI at R Premadasa Stadium (d/n)

February 8 - 5th ODI at SSC

February 10 - Twenty20 at R Premadasa Stadium (d/n)

 

[Nishan]

good to finally get a 20/20 game in SRL. Dambulla day night games are dodgy(win the toss win the game) hopefully the pitches and the lights dont have affect on the games.

As a Lankan fan i want to see major batting changes like getting rid of passengers and giving opportunity for those performing at domestic level.

Also Lasith Malinga should get a look in after his 2 games of one day cricket since surgery he has taken 3-34 and 5-56.

 

[biased indian]

all but one game is D/N...so should be able to watch at least one half of the games

 

[cowboysfan]

my team-

sehwag
sachin
gambhir
raina
yuvi
rohit
dhoni
bhajji
munaf
ishant
zaheer

reserves-
kohli
ravindra jadeja(genuine all rounder)
yusuf pathan(sort of all-rounder)
Praveen kumar(or cry baby sreeshanth if PK is not fit)

 

[krkode]

Muralitharan to open the batting with Jayasuriya for SL, IMO. The new Kalu-Jayasuriya partnership.

 

[HMas]

I will be rooting for SL 5-0 white wash over India

 

[cowboysfan]

I will be rooting for SL 5-0 white wash over India

i will rooting for pakistan to never play international cricket unless they get their **** together.

 

[Arjun]

good to finally get a 20/20 game in SRL. Dambulla day night games are dodgy(win the toss win the game) hopefully the pitches and the lights dont have affect on the games.

As a Lankan fan i want to see major batting changes like getting rid of passengers and giving opportunity for those performing at domestic level.

Also Lasith Malinga should get a look in after his 2 games of one day cricket since surgery he has taken 3-34 and 5-56.

Whom would you fit into the xI? Already they have Maharoof (lower-order runs), Thushara (extra pace, lower-order runs), Kulasekara (steady for ODIs, lower-order runs), Mendis (new-age phenomenon) and Muralitharan (enough said) in the last ODI so far, and that's not counting Vaas, Malinga and Dilhara. Will Sanath be bowling? We don't know if he can play as a full-fledged bowler now.

 

[Arjun]

Should the Indians send a full-strength ODI team? I suggest they don't. There's a more crucial series against New Zealand in New Zealand a little later, and you need your top players in form and full fitness for that. You will still need Dhoni, Yuvraj, Zaheer and Harbhajan here, but the reserves should get a game, and also things that need a little (or a lot of) improvement, should be given a go here.

 

[silentstriker]

i will rooting for pakistan to never play international cricket unless they get their **** together.

I will be rooting for SL 5-0 white wash over India

Calm down guys. Online pissing contests are pointless.

 

[Nishan]

SL do have options in their bowling. I suggest Malinga will replace Maharoof or Mathews from the eleven but the batting is weak so they probably wont go take that option.

At the moment the captain is struggling but cant envisige dropping him so will probably be Tharanga and Kapugedra getting the chop and i hope Dilshan and Paravithrana or Warnapura come in.

 

[Arjun]

SL do have options in their bowling. I suggest Malinga will replace Maharoof or Mathews from the eleven but the batting is weak so they probably wont go take that option.

At the moment the captain is struggling but cant envisige dropping him so will probably be Tharanga and Kapugedra getting the chop and i hope Dilshan and Paravithrana or Warnapura come in.

The Lankans have this tendency to go in with three seamers for a one-dayer, so we've seen bowling-heavy selections come up lately. Had Mendis not been discovered, we would have three seamers, Murali and a rag-tag combination of Sanath, Mahela, Dilshan and who knows who else. They Lankans don't score too much, but bowl the other team out for even less, so that's what they need to keep doing. Maybe they can replace Kulasekara, since he's an average bowler and not the best batsman among the three seamers.

 

[Arjun]

my team-

sehwag
sachin
gambhir
raina
yuvi
rohit
dhoni
bhajji
munaf
ishant
zaheer

reserves-
kohli
ravindra jadeja(genuine all rounder)
yusuf pathan(sort of all-rounder)
Praveen kumar(or cry baby sreeshanth if PK is not fit)

Sachin, Ishant and Munaf are needed for the NZ series, so they can give this one a miss. They've defeated a stronger SL team (possibly the strongest in some time) a little while earlier, so they need to be ready for the series they've never clinched.

The bottom five can have both Pathans, Harbhajan, Praveen Kumar and Dhawal Kulkarni, with Ravi Jadeja and Sreesanth in reserve. This should help the second line players assume a frontline role and those a little out of form to play themselves back to top form before the NZ series.

 

[adharcric]

Should the Indians send a full-strength ODI team? I suggest they don't. There's a more crucial series against New Zealand in New Zealand a little later, and you need your top players in form and full fitness for that. You will still need Dhoni, Yuvraj, Zaheer and Harbhajan here, but the reserves should get a game, and also things that need a little (or a lot of) improvement, should be given a go here.

Given that the one-day series in Sri Lanka coincides with the Duleep Trophy, everyone will likely participate in one tournament or the other barring injury. That said, it may still be a good idea to pick the squad based on our priorities ahead of the tour of New Zealand. Essentially, there are three openings in the test squad: a reserve middle-order batsman (Badrinath, Sharma or Pujara) and two reserve seamers (behind Zaheer-Ishant-Munaf, so it's mainly down to Praveen, Irfan and Sreesanth), one of whom may be an all-rounder (small chance for Jadeja here). Hence, it makes sense to get these boys in the Duleep Trophy and send the rest for the one-day series.

Sehwag, Tendulkar, Gambhir, Raina, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Yusuf, Bhajji, Zaheer, Munaf, Ishant with Kohli, Praveen and Ojha as reserves.

 

[Evermind]

i will rooting for pakistan to never play international cricket unless they get their **** together.

i will be rooting for pakistan to never play international cricket regardless of whether they get their **** together. good riddance to cheats and chuckers.

 

[DingDong]

i will be rooting for pakistan to never play international cricket regardless of whether they get their **** together. good riddance to cheats and chuckers.

how does this guy get away with this??

 

[Evermind]

how does this guy get away with this??

I am joking.

But only half-joking. Sadly, the Pakistan team - with Afridi's drill into the pitch, Shoaib and Asif's ridiculous "pardon" from the PCB in spite of obvious guilt, Shoaib's questionable action, repeated drug offences, mafia connections, discipline problems, ball-tampering issues and routine match-fixing issues - has tarnished its own image beyond repair. There is little nobility in a team playing a game like that, all the more so because they obviously don't lack talent.

I find it pathetic and I'm allowed that opinion.

 

[DingDong]

I am joking.

But only half-joking. Sadly, the Pakistan team - with Afridi's drill into the pitch, Shoaib and Asif's ridiculous "pardon" from the PCB in spite of obvious guilt, Shoaib's questionable action, repeated drug offences, mafia connections, discipline problems, ball-tampering issues and routine match-fixing issues - has tarnished its own image beyond repair. There is little nobility in a team playing a game like that, all the more so because they obviously don't lack talent.

I find it pathetic and I'm allowed that opinion.

Yes, you are allowed to your opinion on players. But you can't stereotype the whole country.
I personally found it offensive and I'm not even Pakistani.

 

[Evermind]

Yes, you are allowed to your opinion on players. But you can't stereotype the whole country.
I personally found it offensive and I'm not even Pakistani.

I'm not stereotyping the whole country - I have a lot of lovely Pakistani friends. I'm only generalising the behaviour of the cricket team.

To me, Miandad's achievements, for example, mean very little - he's in bed with India's most wanted terrorist. Who knows how he achieved what he did: through talent or coercion?

 

[Migara]

Whom would you fit into the xI? Already they have Maharoof (lower-order runs), Thushara (extra pace, lower-order runs), Kulasekara (steady for ODIs, lower-order runs), Mendis (new-age phenomenon) and Muralitharan (enough said) in the last ODI so far, and that's not counting Vaas, Malinga and Dilhara. Will Sanath be bowling? We don't know if he can play as a full-fledged bowler now.

Still he's a good 5th bowler, but we need someone in additional when playing India, as they are damn good against spin.