DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka, - After losing the crucial test series against Sri Lanka, India has a chance of making a come back in the ODI series. The first ODI starting today, will bring alot of pressure on the Indian shoulders. According to the cricket experts, winning the toss and batting first will be an advantage for the teams on this pitch.

Greatest concern for India is that it lost in-form opener Virender Sehwag due to an ankle injury and his place has been taken by Virat Kohli, who was the under-19 captain. On the other hand Lankan team does not have any such concern. Sri Lanka has named the same playing eleven that won the Asia Cup last month, playing six specialist batsmen and five bowlers.

The shape of the Monday’s ODI, the first in the five-match series, might turn out to be different from what is indicated till now. There is a difference of opinion among the cricket experts on the contest. According to the local journalists and cricketers, run-making would be difficult because the ball would not come on. Many others believe that it is likely that the strip will offer bounce, promoting stroke-play, quick bowling, and spin. All the real action will be unveiled when both the teams meet today.

The pitch is going to be good for both fast bowlers and spinners. So much will depend on their effort. The team which gets some early wickets will surely be able to put extra pressure on the rival team. When it comes to selection of players Dhoni said, “We’ll look to play with five bowlers”. “Who those five bowlers are, we haven’t decided yet. We are looking at two spinners (Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha); you rarely play four fast bowlers in this situation.”

So there are chances that Irfan Pathan may play today. Zaheer Khan may lead the attack and may be more beneficial for India. He bowls well against strong players like Kumar Sangakkara who is likely to open the batting with Sanath Jayasuriya. If Zaheer captures his wicket early then it will be an advantage for India. Such early wickets are badly needed to take a lead in the series.

On Lankan side the aggressive batsmen like Jayasuriya and Sanggakara will try their best to wound the Indian bowling effort. Jayasuriya has proved his capability to blow the bowling attacks in past as well. So India will have to come up with an effecient strategy to contain such batsmen.

Much depends on the Sri Lankan bowling unit that seems to hold the key to the series. The killing combination of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis from both ends has already stung the Indian team in test series. The opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir has performed well in test series but the ankle injury Sehwag suffered on Sunday appears serious threat for India. The middle-order of Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma and Dhoni will have to come up with strong defence against Lankan bowlers.

Gambhir will have to perform well because he is the only Indian batsman who consistently read Mendis. If he makes a good initial score then tide will turn in favour of India. Rest all remains to be seen when the two Asian cricket giants meet!
The sides:
Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt.), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Udawatte, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Malinda Warnapura, Jehan Mubarak, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Thushara and Nuwan Kulasekara.

India: M.S. Dhoni (capt. & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, S. Badrinath, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, R.P. Singh, Munaf Patel and Pragyan Ojha.

Umpires: Billy Doctrove and Asoka de Silva.
Television umpire: Gamini Silva.
Match referee: Chris Broad