India may play Sehwag, discard 5-bowler theory

Stung by Sunday's debacle when the young batsmen failed to chase down a meagre target of 204 runs against Australia, India is likely to revert to its seven-batsmen format as they seek to put is across the islanders to revive their hopes of making it to the final.

It brightens up the chance of Sehwag returning to the line-up as the dashing opener, more than his fitness, was removed for tactical reason in the game against Australia on Sunday.

With hosts Australia virtually assuring a place in the final having bagged 17 points from five matches, much will depend on India's performance against the Sri Lankans in the day-night encounter. The Indians were in the second position on the points table with 8 points from five games while Sri Lanka had six points from four matches.

Sehwag has a bruise near his right shoulder but that alone was not the reason to keep him out of the playing eleven.

Faced with a choice of dropping a batsman, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed trust on out-of-form Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa but the plan came unstuck as the duo failed.

India are likely to once again seek deliverance from the senior pros and it puts Sehwag firmly in the picture. Sehwag has not been in the best of nick in this one-day series but his association with Sachin Tendulkar is key to India's plans.

All the three teams have struggled to come to terms with the new white ball and bowlers of all the teams have had a field day.

India needs its batsmen to fire big on Tuesday if it has to hold back the charge of the Lankans.

The Lankans have won only one game but the equation is slightly in their favour going into Tuesday's match.

Both sides need at least two wins under their belt but whereas India has just three games left of their lined up games, Sri Lanka has four matches to go for their desired wins.

India is likely to add an extra batsman to the squad as the Adelaide Oval pitch is likely to get slower because of the persistent heat.

The bounce, evident in Sunday's game, may not be as pronounced on Tuesday on the worn-out pitch.

India is banking on Sri Lanka's batting to once again misfire on Tuesday as it has done all through the summer.

But for Kumar Sangakkara, who has 132 runs from four games at average of 44, none of the other Lankan batsmen have scored even 100 runs from the competition so far.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene has 63 runs from four games while Sanath Jayasuriya has 43 from equal number of matches.

Sri Lanka's bowling, though economical, hasn't been as destructive as well.

Lead bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas have only six wickets between them and their averages of 58.66 and 60.00 also does not make it a pretty reading.

Lasith Malinga, with seven wickets at 29 apiece, has been their stand-out bowler though against the Indians he went for 56 and 45 runs from 10 and six overs.

The conditions at the Adelaide Oval are expected to be blistering in terms of heat. The scorching sun of the last few days is unlikely to yield on Sunday.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni sure would be looking to win the toss and post a big total to keep themselves in hunt for a place in the final.

Teams (likely):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardena (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Fervez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas.