Yuvraj Singh, who came to bat at no. 7, did not get enough time and was out for a duck in the second T20 at Ranchi. (Photo: PTI)
Yuvraj Singh, who came to bat at no. 7, did not get enough time and was out for a duck in the second T20 at Ranchi. (Photo: PTI)
After an outstanding allround show that resulted in a thumping series-levelling win over Sri Lanka in Ranchi, Team India look to carry the momentum and seal their second straight T20 series win when they take on the visitors in the third and decisive match at the Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA cricket stadium here in Vizag on Sunday evening.
M.S. Dhoni’s men showed robust resilience to bounce back from an embarrassing defeat in the opening match in Pune to thrash the Lankans by 69 runs in the second game in the captain’s hometown on Friday.
Against that backdrop, the buoyant Blues would be eager to take the field at their happy hunting ground — India have won four of the five ODI matches played at this picturesque venue. However, Sunday’s game is a first for Vizag as far as T20s are concerned after a scheduled T20 between India and New Zealand was abandoned due to heavy rain in 2012.
Curator Naga Mallaiah is upbeat that the ground will make a cracking T20 debut as he predicts a run feast for the fans. The pitch is a known batting beauty and is favoured to facilitate high scores.
Team India will once again rely on in-form openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to get them off to a flyer and expect the muscular middle order to build on the strong foundation laid by the sterling starters.
Though he is not inclined to disturbing winning combinations, captain Dhoni may be tempted to draft in Manish Pandey in the middle order in place of Ajinkya Rahane. The home captain will also bank on the lefties getting it right in the crucial game — Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina can run away with the match with sheer hitting on their day.
On the bowling front, Dhoni will once again look to off-spinner R. Ashwin who has delivered consistently for the team. Seamers Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah too have done well and it would be interesting to see if Bhuvneshwar Kumar gets a look in, going by the coastal conditions that suit his swing.
Sri Lanka will once again bank on their pace trio of Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera and Dasun Shanaka who had the hosts in a spot of bother in the first match before the tables were turned on them in Ranchi. Thisara Perera would draw strength from his hat-trick in a losing cause though.
However, it’s the batting department that would worry the visitors. With no big scores to boast of so far, they would be eager to go full throttle in the decider, winning which would go a long way in determining the confidence levels of the teams with the World T20 round the corner.
