World Cup Final Preview: India may have peaked at the right time

By Jamie Alter

 

India vs Sri Lanka. It has a certain ring to it, a very familiar ring. These sides have faced each other 39 times in the last five years; 29 in the last three; 17 in the last two. You can be excused for thinking this isn’t really a novel final coming up in Mumbai on April 2.

By Jamie Alter

 

Mumbai: April 2, 2011

 

India vs Sri Lanka. It has a certain ring to it, a very familiar ring. These sides have faced each other 39 times in the last five years; 29 in the last three; 17 in the last two. You can be excused for thinking this isn’t really a novel final coming up in Mumbai on April 2. Some would call it overkill. Dull, even.

 

But this is a World Cup final and there haven’t been any more deserving sides to reach this far. Credit is due. Efficiently, instinctively, almost unassumingly, Sri Lanka have made their way to the summit. They have won big – they thrashed Canada and Kenya and New Zealand the league, England by 10 wickets in the quarters – whereas India have scrapped by against each opponent. Their batting hasn’t been as patchy as India’s, their bowling is far more varied and dynamic than India’s and their fielding carries a certain joie de vivre which India’s sorely lacks.

 

Their biggest success story has been Tillakaratne Dilshan, playing out the role Sanath Jayasuriya did for Sri Lanka in 1996. His batting has been restrained, yet he boasts a tournament strike-rate of 93.02. He has picked up wickets and his fielding has been, expectantly, rather brilliant. Then there have been Upul Tharanga, with 393 runs, and Kumar Sangakkara, with 417. No bowler has been outstanding with the ball for Sri Lanka, but Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan have lived up to their reputations and each made contributions. The supporting acts of Nuwan Kulasekara, Ajantha Mendis, Angelo Mathews and Thissara Perera have gone well.

 

Sangakkara, whose captaincy has been astute and helped him pick up a Man-of-the-Match award in the semi-final win over New Zealand, has spoken again and again about Sri Lanka needing to play its own brand of cricket. There has been talk of 1996. There has been talk of how Sri Lanka have forgotten the heartbreak of 2007. Sri Lanka have been making all the right noises leading up to the final, and now it’s a matter of taking it up a notch. It’s time for some thunder.

 

Lord knows they will need to do so against the strongest Indian outfit in years. India came into the World Cup as overwhelming favourites and, despite a few blips, lived up to the billing. Most importantly they have progressively gotten better and seem to have peaked at the right time. Victory over Australia and Pakistan leaves them at a major high, after the dark days of tying with England and losing to South Africa. The bowling had many questions hovering over it but seems to have gotten its act together; Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s move to include Ashish Nehra over Ravichandran Ashwin worked wonders in the semi-final and India will hope that Nehra recovers in time for the final.

 

The batting has been carried by Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, with Gautam Gambhir providing consistent 30s without ever really imposing himself. Zaheer Khan has been the spearhead almost effortlessly, with his clever slower deliveries being the standout aspect of India’s bowling. Harbhajan Singh has bowled well in the last two matches, the ones that really mattered, while Munaf Patel has gone about his work manfully. Yuvraj’s success with the ball has turned him into a fifth bowler. Ashwin provides a great option at the start of an innings. Now it’s all about reading the pitch and getting the right combination in.

 

India’s biggest challenge is to lift themselves in their biggest final since 2003. They have been prone to falter at the final hurdle – they’ve dropped 16 finals since 2000. Sixteen! – and now need to get their heads screwed on tightly. Despite the fanfare and hoopla surrounding India, it is Sri Lanka who hold the edge in the clash between two sides who generally don’t do dull finals. They are a very good one-day side and have beaten India in seven of nine completed tournament finals since 2000.

 

In front of a packed house in Mumbai, with a nation crossing their fingers that victory can be delivered with Tendulkar scoring his 100^th international century, it remains to be seen which team buckles under the pressure of expectancy.

 

Teams

 

India (Probable): Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt&wk), Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin/Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel.

 

Sri Lanka (Probable): Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (capt&wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara/Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan.

 

Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan).

 

Time: 14.30 local (09.00 GMT)

 

(Jamie Alter is a freelance cricket writer, having worked at ESPNcricinfo and All Sports Magazine. His first book, The History of World Cup Cricket, is out now. His twitter feed is @jamie_alter)

 

Pictures © AFP



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