India look to keep rolling against Sri Lanka

AHMEDABAD: The makeshift ODI series against Sri Lanka is proving to be a blessing in disguise. With the World Cup just three months away, both India and Sri Lanka have got a wonderful opportunity to iron out a few issues. Everything fell in place for India in Cuttack and Thursday will offer another opportunity for Virat Kohli and his boys to assert their domination when both teams face each other here in the second day-night ODI.

First, India would like to be doubly sure about their batting. Over the years, India's batting has been their major strength, home or away. As skipper Virat Kohli said, "The batting has come together very nicely over the past one or one-and-a-half years. The whole idea of this series is to try different people in different positions and see how they react to those situations. We need to figure out the best combination.

"The guys responded beautifully in the first game and hopefully any change that we make, or different combina tions that we try, will give us the same results. We can be more confident and have more options going closer to the World Cup." The second issue is the Indian pace attack. Having a potent seam attack will definitely be an added advantage Down Under. Back from injury, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav were very impressive in the Cuttack ODI.

Sharma picked 434 runs from eight overs - including a maiden - while Yadav picked 224 from 6.2 overs.

However, Varun Aaron's injury in the first ODI, in which he bowled just 4.1 overs, is affecting the combination. Kohli said, "Obviously Varun's pace is always an advantage. If a guy is bowling at 150 kmph, it's a great thing. But Umesh (Yadav) is doing the same thing and Ishant (Sharma) can push himself up to 140 kmph and when his body is strong enough, he can bowl consistently at 140 for 7-8 overs.

"If you look at the complete picture you will see that Varun is quick, Umesh is quick, Ishant bowls at 140-plus, Mohammad Shami bowls quick and Bhuvneshwar Kumar swings it both ways. So things are looking good going into the World Cup."

Meanwhile, four of the five spinning options will also battle for the all-rounder's slot.Interestingly , all-rounders have played important roles in both of India's World Cup victories, be it Kapil Dev in 1983 or Yuvraj Singh in 2011. Now any one among Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Karan Sharma, according to Kohli, can qualify for that all-important slot.Amit Mishra remains the fifth spinning option, and he too is no mug with the bat.

"Ashwin is a very intelligent cricketer and has been more than good with the bat in certain situations. There is Jadeja, everyone knows how capable he is. He's been a perfect all-rounder for us. Now we also have Axar, whose temperament has been amazing. I have seen him in the two games now and in IPL, he's a very strong character. We have Stuart Binny as well as a fast bowing all-rounder.

"Any of these four people or even Karan Sharma can be very handy with the bat. I see every one of them having the character and temperament to deliver," said Kohli.

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