India,Lanka look to plug the gaps

Stand in skipper Sehwag admits Dhoni will be missed while Sangakkara hopes makeshift attack comes good in Cuttack.

While there has hardly been a fair contest between bat and ball so far,the one-day series itself is delicately poised going into the third match,to be played in Cuttack on Monday. A total of 1,428 runs have been scored in the two matches so far,a fair indication that the bowlers have had the rough end of the conditions in both Rajkot and Nagpur.

And while the bowlers will be feeling the strain,there will be no shortage of motivation in the sleepy town of Cuttack,as both look to get their nose ahead in the five-match affair.

Both teams will be depleted going into this game,though its hard to say which team have been affected more. India will be looking to find a way to plug the hole left by Mahendra Singh Dhonis absence the skipper being slapped with a two-match ban for Indias slow overrate in Nagpur. The good news for them,however,is that Yuvraj Singh might be fit enough to play,having recovered from a bout of flu and a niggling finger injury.

He took to the nets at the Barabati this afternoon,and was his usual swaggering self,hammering the nets bowlers around. But Sehwag,Indias stand-in skipper,said that it was still too early to take a call on whether he will play.

Dhoni factor

Its a big thing,Dhoni not playing. He is our best middle-order batsman. He is out of two games,and we will feel his absence, Sehwag said. Its difficult to take Dhonis place. But we hope Karthik has two good games.

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara candidly admitted that he hoped Dhonis absence became a factor for India,but he would have had more worries on his mind.

After two tight chases,they are now facing a new challenge that of filling the blanks. Angelo Mathews,who struck a match-winning 37 in Rajkot,joined the sick bay already teeming with the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan,Lasith Malinga,Dammika Prasad and Dilhara Fernando.

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Sangakkara maintained his sense of humour though. When asked about Sehwags captaincy record against them India have won the only match they have played against Sri Lanka with Sehwag as captain he said,I dont know if Sehwag as captain has an edge over us. What I do know is that we need his edge early on tomorrow when we bowl.

Another batting track

Both Sehwag and Sangakkara agreed that even in two extremely high-scoring games where several batsmen plundered runs Tillakaratne Dilshan had stood out as the biggest performer. Hes had two great matches (160 at Rajkot,123 at Nagpur). I hope he gets five great games, the Lankan captain said.

Meanwhile,the pitch at the Barabati is expected predictably to assist the batsmen,even if the curator,Pankaj Patnaik,says that it wont be an absolute belter like the ones at Rajkot or Nagpur. What could change the equation slightly here is the dew factor,which could make defending even a 300-run total tricky under lights.