Flaws removed, India hope to floor SL

It’s the kind of situation that separates men and boys. India take on Sri Lanka at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka tomorrow, the winne...

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It’s the kind of situation that separates men and boys. India take on Sri Lanka at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka tomorrow, the winner’s prize being a berth in the semifinal. With all four teams in the Super League Group 1 on 2 points, India must win to make sure they go through.

It is, as batsman Suresh Raina says, a ‘‘do-or-die situation’’. But Raina, Shikhar Dhawan and technical director Dilip Vengsarkar told The Indian Express it shouldn’t be too much of a bother.

‘‘We just have to play positively’’, says Dhawan, the star so far of the Indian side. ‘‘There is no other way. Sri Lanka are a strong side but I think how we play will determine the result. We have to stay at the wicket for 50 overs — if we do that, we would have put up a winning total. Or chased down whatever target is set for us.’’

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Raina points to the fact that India and Sri Lanka U-19s played two matches recently in Pakistan, each team winning one game. ‘‘We know about them, and that their main spinner Maharoof is very good. But if our batting clicks, things will be fine’’, he says.

India’s problem so far in the tournament, irrespective of the fact that they have lost just one match — narrowly – to South Africa, has been a lack of consistent batting, Dhawan apart.

A problem Vengsarkar doesn’t deny. ‘‘See, evidently we have the potential to do well. But potential is not the same as performance. Unless we play well for 100 overs, there’s no way we can win. Our batting is the important thing and if we play well for 50 overs, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t win. We have tried to figure out why good batsmen are not being able to score regularly, and hopefully it has been solved.’’

One such problem area for India was Suresh Raina. The man who smashed a 38-ball 90 against Scotland in the first match scored virtually nothing in the next three matches. But the UP all-rounder bounced back against West Indies on Tuesday, and today said he was confident things wouldn’t drift again in this series.

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‘‘Things didn’t go well after the first match for me, but we’ve worked it out and I’m concentrating harder. So I don’t think that will be a problem against Sri Lanka. The coach discussed it with me, now it’s all about playing my natural game — but with the added thought that I need to stay as long as possible’’, Raina said.

Having played the second Super League playoff match against the West Indies yesterday, the Indians had taken the day off and most of the players were spotted lounging around the team hotel in Dhaka.The Lankans, however, were not available to the media, spending the morning at practice in the Fatullah Stadium on the outskirts of Dhaka and the rest of the day holed up in their rooms.

But it’s not the day before that forces the result. It’s what happens on the ground on the day of the match and that’s where we will find out if we were right in taking the Indian opinion seriously.