TRAINING HARD: The Indian bowlers — Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Sudeep Tyagi and Pragyan Ojha — will be keen to seal the series in Kolkata on Thursday.

KOLKATA: The Eden Gardens has a wonderful feel to it. Despite a huge chunk of it being lost temporarily to a massive construction project, there’s still an air of magnificence to the venue, befitting a stadium that takes great pride in its history, sense of occasion and unique character.

True to style, a large, charged crowd is expected to back India when the fourth India-Sri Lanka One-Day International is played here on Thursday.

For the Indian fans, however, the venue isn’t consciously partisan towards the host team. India has lost its last three completed ODIs at this ground while one match — against Sri Lanka — was washed out in 2007. But, this is a different team and one that’s unlikely to be bogged down by the results of matches that date back to 2005 at the latest. The side will be riding on the momentum of a good all-round performance at Cuttack and the welcome return to form of its bowlers.

The upbeat Indian team, leading 2-1, would much rather seal the series here than push it to a decider in extremely cold conditions at New Delhi.

Support for spinners

By the look of it, the conditions here should suit the Indians. The Kolkata wicket doesn’t yet have a documented apathy towards the bowlers. There will be runs, potentially, but the spinners can expect some support before the dew sets in.

There is a slight batting concern for India. On paper, India’s middle-order wears thin without Yuvraj Singh and M.S. Dhoni. Gautam Gambhir has failed to convert starts, while Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina have been successful in support roles.

For the first time in the series, they will be expected to carry the middle-order on their own, particularly during the batting Powerplay.

But, what could be a concern for the team was viewed as an opportunity by skipper Virender Sehwag. “These matches are opportunities for the youngsters to do well and for us to improve our bench-strength. It will help us for the 2011 World Cup,” Sehwag said.

Spin in fine fettle

The spin-bowling department looks in good health, but the opening bowlers can hope for no respite from Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Until the Cuttack match, Sri Lanka’s middle-order had not been exposed because of the success of the top-order. In a way, this could explain the bizarre collapse at the Barabati Stadium.

Mahela Jayawardene, in particular, has cut a forlorn figure ever since his teammates’ scoring rate has reduced him to the odd show of misplaced daring.

Backing Jayawardene

Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss came to the defence of his middle-order, especially Jayawardene. “It happens when the top three players score heavily and the guys down the order don’t get to do a lot of batting.

“I would say he (Jayawardene) is out of runs but not out of form. He has been hitting the ball very well. As we saw in the Test matches, he is a world-class player and it’s not long before we’ll see the best of him again,” Bayliss added.

Sri Lanka’s repeated omission of Sanath Jayasuriya — which was merely a subject of curiosity when Dilshan adequately compensated for it — has raised many questions.

Bayliss said the decision to include two spinners had made it difficult to accommodate the left-hander, but it remains to be seen if the likes of Thilina Kandamby and Chamara Kapugedera are better options in the middle-order than Jayasuriya.

The 40-year-old is not yet a spent force, particularly taking into account his record against India. The hype that preceded his move down the order lasted longer than the experiment itself. Jayasuriya survived just a few deliveries before Harbhajan Singh had him stumped in the first ODI at Rajkot. However, the experiment is worth another try.

Better to chase

The Indians, meanwhile, will be giving more thought to Dilshan. Sehwag revealed he would much rather bowl first than face the prospect of bowling to the Lankan top-order under lights with the dew.

Bayliss had not yet designed any strategy to combat the evening dew; nothing more than to “bat and bowl well.” If only it was that simple.

The teams (from):

India: Virender Sehwag (capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Sudeep Tyagi and Pragyan Ojha.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (capt.), Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilina Kandamby, Thilan Samaraweera, Sanath Jayasuriya, Thissara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekera, Thilan Thushara, Lasith Malinga, Chanaka Welegedara, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Suraj Randiv and Ajantha Mendis.

Umpires: M. Erasmus and Sanjay Hazare.

Match begins at 2.30 p.m.

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