13 March 2012 07:37 am
The Lankans have decided to leave out Lasith Malinga for the second match of the 2012 Asia Cup.
Pakistan had earlier beaten Bangladesh by 21 runs in the opening match of the tournament on Sunday.
If the recently-concluded CB Series is anything to go by, then Tuesday's clash should keep the supporters of both sides on their tenterhooks.
While the Indians have been on the receiving end of some serious flak as a result of their tour of Australia, which for all meaningful purposes was disastrous, Sri Lanka - led brilliantly by their skipper Mahela Jayawardene - were simply exhilarating in the tri-series, where they very nearly came up with the perfect ending.
India, on the other hand, will derive their belief from the fact that they have been fairly competitive against their sub-continental rivals in recent times. They, in fact, got the better of the Lankans twice in the CB Series, which included a mammoth chase in Hobart.
Teams:
India:
Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(capt/wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar
Sri Lanka:
Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (w/k), Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Seekkuge Prasanna (Source: Cricket Next)