Abundance to ponder for unsettled India

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.

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MS Dhoni deliver nerve-shredding tie

Sri Lanka 236 for 9 (Chandimal 81, Jayawardene 43, Vinay 3-46, Ashwin 2-30) tied with India 236 for 9 (Gambhir 91, Dhoni 58*, Thisara 2-45)

When all else are losing their minds in frantic finishes, what is cricket's coolest customer MS Dhoni thinking?

"It's important to be blank," says the Indian captain.

After orchestrating a win and a tie within 48 hours in Adelaide, Dhoni offered revealing insights into his run-chasing expertise.

On Sunday night in Adelaide, Dhoni was instrumental as India smacked 13 runs from the final over to defeat Australia.

On Tuesday night, Dhoni again expertly guided India against Sri Lanka but, needing four from the last ball, his shot was saved on the boundary - he ran three for the tie.

Some, including his team-mate Gautam Gambhir, say he shouldn't wait until the last over to try to win games.

But Dhoni merely points to his successes. "Why fix something that is not broken ... this is working for us," he said after the tie with the Lankans.

Dhoni, batting No.7, said he doesn't "have the luxury of batsmen behind me". "So if I go in, more often than not I like to finish the job," he said. "Some people like to finish the game early and take a bit more risk in the middle overs ... but I have a different perspective about it.

"We all can easily play the big shot. The difference is it always has to pay off.
"If it doesn't pay off, what do you say, the shot wasn't needed.

"So I am never in a hurry to finish it in the 48th or 47th over. If it goes to the 49th over or the 50th over, I'm quite happy."

But what goes through his mind in the tense final moments when he holds his nation's fortunes in his hands? "Basically, it's blank," Dhoni said. "They bowl yorkers at your toe, stumps and outside off.

"So if you get set up for a ball that you suppose will be right at the stumps and it's an outside off yorker, it's a really difficult ball to hit. "It's important to be blank.

"And you back yourself - if you're not backing yourself to get those four runs, then it will be tougher to get those four runs ... you have to back yourself."

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