India look for a happy ending

the Champions Trophy later this month and they will be hoping to go to South Africa on a positive note. Dhoni admitted they were not prepared for the crisis up the order after Gautam Gambhir joined regular opener Virender Sehwag in the sick bay just before the start of the tournament.

“If you see the last one year,we had Gambhir-Sachin-Sehwag playing consistently at the top of the order. We never had a problem,this is the first time when two of our three regular openers aren’t there. It’s really hard to get openers. The fact is that we don’t have any opener who can come as a replacement in such a short period,” Dhoni had said after Friday’s defeat. Dhoni went on say that Gambhir’s replacement Virat Kohli wasn’t a specialist opener and he doesn’t want to risk the Delhi batsman’s career by asking him to bat at an unfamiliar position.

Coach Gary Kirsten also refused to comment anything on the playing XI for the final after the optional net session at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Sunday. “I haven’t spoken to Dhoni till yet. Let’s see what happens,” he said.

The net session saw Kirsten spending a long time with Yuvraj Singh in the middle. A day after the left-hander was bothered by the Lasith Malinga,Kirsten tried giving him the feel of facing a ‘slingy’ bowler,throwing the ball from a reduced distance and concentrating on the off-stump as Yuvraj took guard. The 30-minute one-on-one session between the two was concluded with the coach giving “you are getting your feet right today” verdict.

Even the bowling department might see a change with Amit Mishra being considered to partner Harbhajan Singh in the middle overs. Harbhajan’s 10-1-37-1 was the only bright spot for India in the last game,though it remains to be seen how the skipper manages to balance the line-up by including two specialist spinners. The other important aspect will be the toss with Dhoni accepting the importance of the turn of the coin. “Toss is important. If you win it,you have 60 per cent chance of winning the match. If you score 230-240 runs,then you have a good chance as the bowlers will find it easier to bowl second,” he said.

Toss not vital: Sangakkara

Meanwhile,Sri lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara insisted that his team did not have an edge in the final because of their emphatic win in a dead rubber. “Not really. Every victory is done and over. You have just got to get ready and face the next challenge. We have won one or two games here. So,we have to get prepared for the final,” Sangakkara said. He however,downplayed the importance of toss.

“My theory of luck is simple. If you are prepared and you train very hard then the need for luck is minimised. The toss is not something you can control but what you can control is how you react to it and what do you do after it,” he said. Sangakkara also said that veteran Sanath Jayasuriya and a strong middle order were his team’s strengths.

“In the middle order (Thilina) Kandamby and others are coming good. And also Sanath Jayasuriya coming back and scoring runs. I think those three factors are very important for us for coming forward,especially in the sub-continent conditions,” he said.

On the bowling front,Sangakkara lauded pacer Lasith Malinga’s performance. “Malinga is equally deadly with the new and old ball. We just want to exploit each bowlers and each player’s strength every time we use them,” he said. Muttiah Muralitharan,on the other hand,is fit and is expected to play.