CRUX OF THE MATTER: At the centre of all the attention, India’s Yuvraj Singh chats with captain M.S. Dhoni during a practice session at Rajkot on Monday.

Rajkot: Yuvraj Singh’s little finger held the attention of a keen media contingent ahead of the first One-Day International between India and Sri Lanka at the Madhav Rao Scindia Stadium.

At a less painful time, Yuvraj was a force of nature at Mohali; but the left-hander cut a less fearsome figure during practice on Monday. He restricted himself to stretching, and nursing the little finger of his left hand which he injured while fielding at Mohali.

Skipper M.S. Dhoni was hopeful Yuvraj would make it to the eleven, and said he’d keep the option open till the morning of the match. The first of the five-match series will begin here on Tuesday.

Yuvraj’s middle-order power and gravitas will be missed in a format that is ideally suited to him. Team India, meanwhile, has recently found the 50-over format less cooperative in its quest for the ODI top spot, a situation that some would call ironical. No country has opened its arms more fondly to One-Day Internationals than this host nation.

The format, recently deified by purists for being the lesser of the two limited-over evils, is in good health on Indian soil as long as its essential commercial and entertainment merits aren’t compromised.

Ideal batting track

The Rajkot wicket, on those lines, looks ideal for a run-fest. “Keeping in mind that this is a One-Day International, we have prepared a batting track,” said Niranjan Shah, Secretary, Saurashtra Cricket Association. Five of the last six matches here have been won by teams batting first. For the bowlers, karmic intervention is a long way off.

The Indian batting line-up, with or without Yuvraj, will be imposing on such a wicket, presenting the side with an opportunity to better its recent one-day record.

Despite series wins over New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka over the last year, India’s more recent one-day form is seen as indifferent after a mediocre Champions Trophy and the loss to Australia in a seven-match series.

An overwhelmingly attacking and personality-ridden batting line-up such as this often covers up the relative weakness of its bowling. India has struggled with its bowling at the death, a shortcoming that calls for a greater buffer from the batsmen.

Dhoni addressed that concern on the eve of the match. “Bowling better at the death is an issue for us, of course, but we are working on improving. We have to have more variations and bowl more yorkers. The mark of a good death bowler is his ability to bowl yorkers.”

India’s yorker exponent Zaheer Khan’s return to the ODI squad after a significant gap will bring back the Zaheer-Ashish Nehra combine that made for an effective opening option.

Disappointing tour

Sri Lanka gained some batting momentum from the Twenty20 matches, particularly its skipper Kumar Sangakkara. But the tour overall has been disappointing for the visiting team. The Lankans are a charming, earnest lot, with a mix of elegant batsmen and maverick talents, and a refreshing cricketing perspective; but their inability to seize complete control hasn’t allowed them the kind of success they would have liked.

Sri Lanka’s more recent ODI series record has been mixed. There have been wins against Pakistan and Zimbabwe, but two series losses to India, and an indifferent Champions Trophy.

In its attempt to redeem itself, Sri Lanka will send Sanath Jayasuriya down the order to exploit the power plays, which will leave Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga to provide the start.

For the Indians, Jayasuriya as a pending threat will be a minor relief from facing his instant wrath as an opener.

Lasith Malinga was down with fever on Monday and might be doubtful for the match, but Muttiah Mutalitharan will play.

Area of concern

Fielding has been an area of concern for both teams. T20s cruelly and persistently expose fielding standards by the sheer law of averages. Both teams have looked jaded on the field, and the long season and tour will take its toll on the fielding in this series.

Mike Young, formerly with the Australian team, has been working with the Indian team over the last few days. Fresh legs will serve India’s fielding better, even if the overall standards have to improve.

India has an impressive home record against the Lankans, going into the series. In the last decade, India has won 10 out of its last 12 ODIs at home against Sri Lanka. There’s nothing to suggest just yet that this series will be any different.

The teams (from):

India: M.S. Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Sudeep Tyagi.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (captain/wicketkeeper), Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilina Kandamby, Thilan Samaraweera, Sanath Jayasuriya, Angelo Mathews, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nuwan Kulasekera, Thilan Thushara, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis.

Umpires: S.K. Tarapore and M. Erasmus.

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