India has been jolted once more after they lost the first game to New Zealand at Dambulla. Ishant Sharma, who was injured before the start of the first game that India lost, may not be able to get fully fit in time, and hence, the Indian selectors have named Munaf Patel as a back-up bowler to Ishant.
India’s chances of leveling the series suffered a serious blow as its opening batsman 28-year old Delhi batsman, Gautam Gambhir was ruled out for the third Test starting tomorrow at the P S Sara Oval, Colombo. Gambhir had missed the second Test owing to a knee injury.
Lasith Malinga has been ruled out of the second Test match between India and Sri Lanka that will be played at the SSC in Colombo. Malinga complained of a sore knee and that is why he has been ruled out, which means that two of the best bowlers that Sri Lanka had from the previous game, Malinga and Muralitharan will not feature in the second Test match.
India play Sri Lanka in the three Test match series that starts from the 18th of July at Galle. Here are strengths and weaknesses for both the sides for that series:
India has selected Yuvraj Singh in their 16 member squad to tour Sri Lanka for the three Test match series after giving him the axe for the Asia Cup that was played in the same country. What has surprised many of the critics is that without having had any practice during the one month, and without playing any competitive cricket, on what grounds was the dropped player selected in the side.
The Asia Cup will begin from the 15th of June and will see four teams fight it out for the ultimate glory. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will play in the Asia Cup in a round-robin league with the top two sides fighting out the finals of the tournament.
The Indian side for the Asia Cup came with a lot of surprises as the selectors decided to change things around for the tournament. Yuvraj Singh was dropped from the 15-member squad that got selected for the tournament, whereas Tendulkar was afforded a break. It was said that Tendulkar wanted a break to spend more time with his children before the start of a very hectic schedule ahead.