India will play Sri Lanka in their opening match today of the Asia Cup being held in Dhaka.
Both teams are coming off largely contrasting tours of Australia. After the debacle of the Test Series against Australia which India lost 4-0, India also failed to make the finals of the one-day tri-series. Sri Lanka on the other hand made it to the finals of the tri-series and managed to push Australia to a third final. India though will take heart from the fact that in four matches India played against Sri Lanka, India three.
But India is not without its set of problems going into the match. Tendulkar has been lackluster in the one-day series in Australia. The middle-order too except for Kohli and skipper Dhoni hasn’t lived upto expectations. Bowling brings in another set of worries for Dhoni. The lack of discipline by bowlers has hurt India often, recently.
Sri Lanka on other hand is the team in form and will be favourite for the game in particular and tournament in general. The top order of Dilshan, Jayawardene and Sangakkara has looked in good form while the young middle order including the impressive Chandimal has ably supported it. The bowling has been tight barring a few inconstant performances by Malinga. The biggest difference has been Jayawardene’s captaincy which has made this Sri Lanka team look very potent.
Being back on the sub-continent pitches should give India hope.