Their pride dented by the embarrassing loss to Zimbabwe in the lung-opener, a jolted India will hope to revive their campaign againstSri Lanka in the second
match of the cricket tri-series in Bulawayotomorrow.
It was hardly the start Suresh Raina would have hoped for in
his debut as captain, as Indialost by six wickets to the hosts yesterday with 10 balls to spare. Missing
their regular stars, Indiawere given a rude shock by the Zimbabweans who chased down a rather stiff
target of 285 with consummate ease.
Indian bowlers let down the team but the batting was not too
impressive either and had it not been for Rohit Sharma’s breezy 114 and
Ravindra Jadeja’s 61 after a top-order collapse, getting to 285 would have also
been a difficult task.
“We need to work on our bowling and fielding department to
come back against Sri Lanka,”
Raina said after the match. Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay were always going
to find it difficult to replicate the flying starts that India are so used to
with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir at the top. The middle order looks
alright with Raina, Rohit and Jadeja in good nick. The bowling is, however, a worry
as the team found out against Zimbabwe.
Umesh Yadav and Ashok Dinda failed to either take wickets or stem the run flow
against lowly side while R. Vinay Kumar proved expensive.
Raina minced no words in expressing his disappointment after
the match.
Sri Lanka,
meanwhile, have also fielded a young team and have rested key players,
prominent among them are regular skipper Kumar Sangakkara and the in-form
Mahela Jayawardene. Tillakaratne Dilshan is leading the side without having the
services of senior players like Sanath Jayasuriya and Lasith Malinga.
All-rounder Angelo Mathews is Dilshan’s deputy on his maiden assignment as
captain for an ODI series. Muttiah Muralitharan, who was ruled out during the
World Twenty20 due to a groin injury, is also not there in the side.
The new-look team features greenhorns like all-rounder
Jeewan Mendis and left-handed batsman Lahiru Thirimanne. The trio of opener
Upul Tharanga, middle-order batsman Chamara Silva and fast bowler Dilhara
Fernando, who were ignored for the Twenty20 World Cup in the West
Indies, are the prominent names in the squad.
It seems an evenly-matched contest where two inexperienced
sides face off but given the opening loss to Zimbabwe,Indiacan hardly afford to relax. After all, a tour meant to test India’s bench
strength could well become an embarrassment if the young side fails to rise to
the occasion. – (PTI/The Hindustan Times)
