Here is the team I would like to see play against Sri Lanka for the vital group match on Friday. Ganguly and Sehwag, Dravid, Sachin, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Pathan (floaters in the batting order), Harbhajan (I think he does a better restricting job in the middle overs than Kumble), Zaheer, Sreesanth and Munaf. Pathan is mainly in as a batsman given his performance against Muralitharan in the series in India. He was one of the few batsmen to play Murali convincingly both in the tests and ODIs.
I think Sreesanth is a risk worth taking due to his wicket taking abilities, especially with the new ball. We need to knock a few off the top order off early to have a chance. And I count Sreesanth and Pathan together as a fourth bowler and the usual assortment of spin finishing the fifth bowler duties unless both Sree and Pathan have a great day with the ball :). And Harbhajan gets in the team because of the risk of playing Sreesanth, need someone who can atleast pull things back in the middle overs.
I would like Pathan to be the floater in the batting line up. If India is batting first and the ball is swinging around and we lose an early wicket, Dravid should come out to bat and steady things down for the first few overs. But if the openers see the shine off the new ball, then there is a case for Pathan (or even Dhoni) at #3 to improve the run rate.
It is going to be a great game and I am still backing India to come through this game and stay in the tournament. Sehwag staying at the wicket is going to be really crucial because he has played Malinga well traditionally and it will be important to do the same here as Vaas is definitely to choke one end up in the early overs.
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