NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Ramesh to open in Pune

Sri Lanka, buoyed by a thrilling win over Pakistan, now take on hosts India in their last league encounter in the ongoing Pepsi Cup triangular series, at the Jawaharalal Nehru Stadium in Pune on Tuesday.

For the Lankans, a win is essential to ensure that they go through into the finals. For India, which will be without the services of skipper Mohammad Azharuddin and master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, there is one league game left, against Pakistan at Mohali on April one.

Stand-in skipper Ajay Jadeja was optimistic that the Indians would settle the issue of a final berth in Pune itself. Speaking to reporters after rigorous nets, Jadeja said it was an honour to lead the national side, though the absence of Azhar and Tendulkar made his job that much more challenging.

Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga expressed complete confidence in his side, after its back-from-behind win in the previous game against Pakistan. "We are experimenting with an eye to the World Cup, and have a fair idea what our strengths and weaknesses are," Ranatunga said.

Both skippers said the final eleven would be announced only tomorrow morning, just ahead of the toss.

Maharashtra all rounder Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who replaces skipper Azharuddin in the squad, is expected to take the field before ehis home crowd. Meanwhile for Lanka, seamer Chaminda Vaas, who had to miss the tie against Pakistan, will replace Hemanta Boteju while it is a toss-up between Chandrika Hathurasinghe and Eric Upashantha for a place in the eleven.

One problem for the Lankans is a lack of support bowling for Vaas and Pramodaya Wickremasinghe, with spinners Upul Chandana and Ruwan Kalpage not quite managing to stem the flow of runs in the middle. Ranatunga said his side had some grey areas to work on. "Our catching has let us down at crucial moments, we have to improve in this department," Ranatunga said.

Jadeja meanwhile indicated that Sadagopan Ramesh would get his first game, opening with Saurav Ganguly while he himself would bat at four. "The tie is certainly very important as we do not not want to stretch to the last match against Pakistan for a place in the finals,'' Jadeja said.

Curator Chandu Borde, himself a former Test star, said that though the wicket had some grass on it, it would stay firm and offer even bounce through the day.

"There will be some purchase for seamers early on, but on the whole, a total of 270-odd can be successfully chased on this track," Borde said. "The lush green outfield is quite fast, and from the pitch itself, we have tried to remove as much grass as possible, there should be no real worries for the batsmen. According to my expectations, it should be a high scoring match."

All the five selectors -- Ajit Wadekar, Madan Lal, Ashok Malhotra, Anil Deshpande and Shivlal Yadav -- have arrived in Pune, and are expected to decide the final eleven tomorrow morning.

The Lankans under Duleep Mendis had last played at this venue in the World Cup preliminary match against England in 1986. The last one dayer at this venue was in 1996, when India defeated New Zealand.

N D Kulkarni and B K Sadashiv, both of Bangalore, will be the match umpires while C R Mohite will man the replay seat.

UNI