Novjot Sidhu on his way to a century in the three day match against Sri Lankan Board President's XI which ended in a draw yesterday.

COLOMBO, Aug 1: The Sri Lankans were welcoming the Indians with hosannas. Not the Indian cricket team, but their country cousins, Hariharan and Lezz Lewis a.k.a Colonial Cousins. The chart busting combo, who will be performing live in Colombo tomorrow, arrived at the Taj Samudra, here, to be greeted by armed security personnel outside the hotel and with flowers and traditional Lankan hospitality inside it Guns 'N Roses ayubowan (welcome), one may call it.

While the Colonial Cousins were receiving a red-carpet welcome, the beleaguered Indian cricketers huddle into their team bus for a wet-carpet welcome at the ground. Heavy rains today morning threw a wet-blanket on their final tune-up for their first Test against Sri Lanka, starting at the Premadasa Stadium tomorrow.

The Indians opted to the confines of the indoor nets at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC). But as skipper Sachin Tendulkar said, it's not the same as practising outdoors. The bowling run-up is restricted and bowlers can't go flat out. The batsmen, too, do not get the kind of bowling they want to prepare themselves mentally and otherwise before an important game.

Nothing is going right for the Indians. Tendulkar's personal and team fortunes are at a low ebb. He is under intense pressure to shape up or ship out as captain at least, that's the impression the five `wise' men presiding over the team's destiny back home had conveyed to him quite unambiguously on the eve of the tour by discussing at length his continuing worth as captain.

The coach is under a self-inflicted siege following his total lack of diplomacy, tact and timing in his brutal, public castigation of his players.The betting and match-fixing charges against three of the Indian players on the tour have simmered down, but not completely extinguished. The embers are still alive and pose an omnipresent threat of catching fire all over again.

The on-field woes centres around key bowler Anil Kumble. The Indian vice-captain's crisis of confidence lingers on at a tie when the potency of the team's attack is considerably diminished by the enforced absence of Javagal Srinath.

On the asset side of the accounts is the return of the experienced Nayan Mongia, which gives the team a semblance of balance. Mongia is slotted to open the innings with Navjot Singh Sidhu, whose half-century and century in the three-day game against the Sri Lankan Board XI was a big boost for the team on the eve of the Test.

Three of the frontline batsmen -- Sidhu, Mohammed Azharuddin and Saurav Ganguly -- are among runs. It will certainly help the side, whose main strength -- at least on paper -- is its batting.

But from the team's morale point of view, it's vital that its key batsman and skipper finds his touch of genius. Tendulkar's consistency level has dipped since he took over as captain. His Test batting average of 37.15 as skipper against an overall batting average of 50 plus speaks volumes. And with just three Test wins as against four losses in Tests at home and abroad, does not do much credit to him as skipper.

India are likely to go in with five bowlers, which means Venkatesh Prasad and Abey Kuruvilla will do the new ball operations, with Kumble, Chauhan and Nilesh Kulkarni forming the three-pronged spin attack.

The Indian team management have included Ajay Jadeja and Gagan Khoda in the 13 they announced. But it looks as if they will stick to the formula of five batsmen and five bowlers, which would mean Jadeja and Khoda not finding a place in the eleven.

While Tendulkar is going through a harrowing time, Arjuna Ranatunga finds the gods smiling on him. The Lankan skipper has a bunch of talented and dedicated outfit, who have already stamped their superiority in the abbreviated version of the game. There is a huge desire to do well in Tests and restore the anomaly that exists between the two formats; just nine wins in 74 Tests, with six of those victories being on home soil.

The Lankans have a fabulous batting line-up. What they lack is the temperament to adapt to conventional cricket. They have no exposure to the five-day game in their domestic set-up and the surfeit of overs-limit game plays a negative part in Tests.

The Lankan bowling lacks in quality Test level bowlers. Chaminda Vaas and Muthiah Muralitharan are the principle striking force. But they do not have adequate back-up support. Ravindra Pushpakumara did well in the recent tour of the West Indies, where the Lankans showed the strides of improvement they have made in Tests. But three good bowlers against a potentially dangerous batting line-up is not good enough.

Sri Lanka go into the Tests with a huge squad of 16 players. But it is almost certain that they may keep Kumara Dharmasena, Ruwan Kalpage, Upal Chandana, Sajeewa de Silva and Russel Arnold out of reckoning.

TEAMS: India (likely 11): Sachin Tendulkar, Nayan Mongia, Navjot Sidhu, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin, Anil Kumble, Rajesh Chauhan, Abey Kuruvilla, Nilesh Kulkarni and Venkatesh Prasad. Reserves: Gagan Khoda, Ajay Jadeja, Vinod Kambli, Robin Singh and Debashish Mohanty

Sri Lanka (likely 11): Arjuna Ranatunga, Maravan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Roshan Mahanama, Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravindra Pushpakumara and Jayanta Silva. Reserves: Kumara Dharmasena, Ruwan Kalpage, Sajeewa de Silva, Upal Chandana and Russell Arnold

Umpires: KT Francis (Sri Lanka) and Steve Randall (Australia). Third umpire: Peter Manuel (Sri Lanka)

ICC Match Referee: John Reid (New Zealand).

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.