India anxious to win 4th ODI vs. Sri Lanka at Kolkata
India-Sri Lanka 4th ODI is crucial for both teams
Will the Indians, who lead 2-1 the India-Sri Lanka series, win the 4th One Day Match at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata tomorrow? This is the million-dollar question in the minds of cricket-crazy Indian fans. Let us analyze the situation.
Poor Dhoni, the Indian Captain, (retaining the first place in world ICC rankings) has missed the 3rd ODI at Cuttack. He is suffering the two-match fine imposed on him by the authorities. Frequent consultation with his team mates, when the 2nd ODI was in progress at Nagpur, (which eventually was lost by the Indians) cost him dearly for slow over rates. So he can not play at Kolkata also.
But the make-shift captain, Sehwag led the team brilliantly at Cuttack, to win the match and capture a 2-1 lead in the 5 match series. He can be reasonably expected to pull the trick again. Yuvaraj Singh, the blaster of runs audaciously, is also out for the 4th and 5th matches, nursing a finger-injury. Virat Kohli or Dinesh Karthik may replace him and have to shoulder the burden of scoring well.
It is going to be Gautam Gambir (promoted to top rank as Test batsman in ICC world ranking) and the legendry Sachin Tendulkar, holding the key for winning or losing at Eden Gardens. Sachin is always the favorite of this ground and we can hope for a sizzling performance by him.
Looking at the other side – Sri Lanka – it all depends on T. Dilshan – who is in excellent form this season. He smashes the bat fiercely to scare the Indian bowlers. Had he not been contained by Ashish Nehra at 41 runs, the result at Cuttack would have been anybody’s guess.
Sri Lankan skipper Sangakkara is a worried man – his bowlers Dilhara Fernando and Muthiah Muralidharan are not there; absence of Angelo Mathews made a big difference at Cuttack and he will not be there at Kolkata as well; and added to that Mahela Jayawardane is running a lean patch. It looks Sanath Jayasura, rested for the last two matches will be back.
All in all a scintillating One Day match is in the offing at Eden Gardens for sure.
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