India vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI Match Live Streaming Mirpur

Fans on either side of the Bay of Bengal might have gotten tired of seeing India and Sri Lanka slug it out over a cricket field, but the administrators of both countries clearly don't share that sentiment. Hence, after a fairly long tour to India, both teams will face-off once again, this time in the environs of a tri-series.

Most of the key players remain the same for both sides, but there are some significant changes too. The most important one for India is the fact that they will miss the reassuring presence of Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the order, in the field and in the dressing room. However, that shouldn't be an insurmountable problem, with a ready-made replacement in Gautam Gambhir available to partner Virender Sehwag at the top. Another vexing question for the team is whether Yuvraj Singh will be fit enough to play or not.

He seemed to be in no discomfort while batting at the nets, but the think tank need to decide on his ability to field. If, for example, a full-blooded drive is hit in his direction when he is fielding at point, will Yuvraj's finger be good enough to intercept the drive? In the absence of both Sachin and Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma might get a look-in, though based on performance alone, Dinesh Karthik deserves to play as a pure batsman. Dinesh has shown he is a safe fielder even without the wicket-keeping gloves and his ODI average and strike-rate of 26.33 at 72.38, are slightly better than Rohit's 24.82 at 72.24. But importantly, Karthik has shown a lot more gumption and desire for a fight in a comparable time in international cricket as Rohit.

A welcome piece of news for India is the return to fitness of S Sreesanth, who has thankfully returned to cricket soon after contracting the H1N1 virus. Sreesanth is likely to get a look-in in the playing eleven alongwith Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra after his impressive showing in the Test matches against Sri Lanka. He could prove to be expensive, but with his undoubted talent, he deserves a chance to show the selectors that he can work just as well in ODIs as in Test matches.

Sri Lanka have got massive problems of their own, with the latest blow being the injury to Tillakaratne Dilshan. That leaves a huge burden on the shoulders of Kumar Sangakkara, since it means he will have to bat through almost the entire innings if Sri Lanka hope to challenge the powerful Indian batting line-up. It will be the perfect time for the relative greenhorns such as Kandamby, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga and Samaraweera to step up to the plate and show that the Sri Lankan team can compete even if some of their top stars are missing.

Don't forget Sri Lanka have dropped old warhorse Sanath Jayasuriya for the match and are without the injured Mahela Jayawardene. The one piece of good news for them is that Thilan Thushara is in the squad after recovering from the injury that kept him out of the India tour and could take the field for them in this match. The other bowlers are the rookies that made good strides in the Indian tour - Welegedera, Randiv and Lakmal.

Sri Lanka need all their resources to pull together for what, on paper, appears to be a vastly more formidable Indian team. They have the advantage of facing a known devil, in that most of their team has had the chance to study the Indian batsman and bowlers and analyze weaknesses that exist, but of course, that works both ways since the Indians have had the same luxury.

India will go into this match as the overwhelming favourites, but they must be wary. The last time they met a team that was beset by injuries, they did so on home ground, with an almost full-strength squad - and Australia won that series handsomely.

Teams:
India (From): Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Ashish Nehra, Dinesh Karthik, Amit Mishra, Rohit Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Sudeep Tyagi
Sri Lanka (From): Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara(w/c), Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Thilina Kandamby, Lahiru Thirimanne, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Suraj Randiv, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Kulasekara, Chanaka Welegedara, Malinga Bandara, Thilan Thushara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thissara Perera

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