Gaji
In his second coming as captain, Mahela Jayewardene has overcome observers with his leadership and on-field strategies. Sri Lanka needed him to end his lean run as a batsman, something he did with the half-century next to Australia after pushing himself up to the top of the order. In his 11 innings as opener, he averages 67.90 which is twice his career mean. Sri Lanka has made stuttering starts in recent matches - 20 or less for the first wicket in 12 of their past 16 ODIs. Jayawardene wants to correct that by taking over at the top.
Virat Kohli has recognized himself as the best of the next generation of Indian batsmen, moving ahead of the likes of Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. He had an exceptional 2011, scoring more runs than anyone else in ODIs, but hasn't hit those heights in this series. With Dhoni missing and much of the batting line-up struggling for form, he needs to make the runs befitting his new-found status.
Team news
India has several questions to ponder. Either Rohit Sharma or Suresh Raina will probably have to make way for Parthiv Patel. The bowling combination will also have changes, with the four-quick policy likely to be discarded.
India: (probable) 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma/Suresh Raina, 6 Parthiv Patel (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Irfan Pathan, 10 Vinay Kumar/Zaheer Khan, 11 Umesh Yadav
Sri Lanka has no reason to make too many changes. The only batsman with a question over his place is Lahiru Thirimanne and he didn't get to bat in the previous match. Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara are Sri Lanka's first-choice fast bowlers. With Thisara Perera turning in a Man-of-the-Match presentation in Sydney and Farveez Maharoof making a superb comeback, Sri Lanka could again go in with a pace-heavy attack.
Sri Lanka: (probable) 1 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Lahiru Thirimanne, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Rangana Herath
Pitch and conditions
The Australian fast bowlers thrived at the Gabba, and the same surface will be used for Tuesday's game. There isn't good news on the weather front - thundershowers are predicted in the afternoon and evening.
