India versus Sri Lanka for the Final showdown of World Cup
Saturday is the big day for the cricket world as the men in blue are set to clash with the Lankan tigers. The final battle for the ICC world cup 2011 will be fought at Wankhede Stadium Mumbai on 2nd
of April.
M.S. Dhoni and his men are focused and determined to lift the Cup. And the runners cup of the last World Cup Kumar Sangakkara and his men are equally dedicated towards one goal and that is “winning the most prestigious competition of the cricketing world”
For India the tournament has been an ultimate test of mind and nerve from the day one. On the other hand Sri Lanka in their first game in the latter’s backyard were defeated at the hands of Pakistan.
News from the ICC World cup 2011 so far is that the defending champions failed to make it to the penultimate round of the tournament and Proteas choked as they ran out of gas. The Ashes winner England was eliminated by the Lankan tigers. The promising Pakistan
lost to its arch-rival India in the semi-finals. However, interestingly, the sub-continent has successfully cleared the colonial hang over by confining the prospective winner to Asian teams.
For Sri Lanka, Arjuna Ranatunga was the first skipper to earn respect for the Lankan Tigers when he lifted the cup in 1996 after defeating Australia in the final encounter at Lahore. The current Lankan captain, Sangakkara is also an ambitious player striving
for the big victory for his nation. But Sangakkara’s strive for excellence received a major blow when their most valuable all rounder Angelo Mathews was declared unfit for the game. More worries appeared for Sri Lanka when the spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan
also seemed not fully fit for the encounter.
News from the Indian dressing room is also worrisome as their veteran medium pacer “Ashish Nehra” has been ruled out due to a fractured finger. Gautam Gambhir is also not completely fit. M.S Dhoni is quietly ambitious and his tenure as a captain tagged him
as an intuitive captain. He and his men have a slight edge in the game in that they have endured many intense pressure moments. They lost and won under pressure situations and have learnt how to deal with it. Mentally and psychologically Indian team has grown
and improved gradually as the saying goes “test of fire makes fine steel”.
But if we see Sri Lanka in the broader perspective, we will see that they are enjoying a very well balanced side. Their bowling is formidable and threatening and their batting lineup is strong enough to chase a fairly grand total. When it comes to India,
they have a strong batting front which has been struggling to compensate for a rather weak bowling attack. But their middle order has failed miserably especially against the likes of Pakistan’s “Wahab Riaz”.
So the World cup still hangs in balance. If we see at the last two years Sri-Lanka and India have won 8 games apiece. Last year belonged to Sri Lanka as they possess the record of 4-3 against India. And in the last five games the record clearly favored
the home team India with a 3-1.
Considering all this, it can be easily concluded that both teams are well aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The final will be a tough game for both sides. Let’s hope the best team emerges victorious.