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Colombo: Sri Lanka go into the second ODI against India at Colombo needing a win to keep the series from slipping away. The continued failures of their skipper Mahela is hurting the islanders in the middle overs, and with Sanath and Sanga back in fine fettle, a captain's innings would be the right tonic for Mahela to set the series alight. Also the mystery behind Mendis is fast fading and it would take another piece of magic from the wily Mendis to keep the Indians guessing.
Even without explosive opener Virender Sehwag, who was nursing a lower back injury, the Indians were hardly pushed as they beat the Lankans by six wickets in the opening match on a tricky Dambulla pitch.
India's 3-2 victory in August last year was their first-ever bilateral series win in Sri Lanka and their chances of making it two in a row will increase significantly if the result of Saturday's day-night contest goes their way.
Indians would do well to remember the humiliation they were subjected to when the two teams squared up the last time around at the R Premadasa stadium.
Chasing a modest 227, the Indians were sent packing for 103 in under 27 overs with Mendis wrecking the visiting line-up with a four-wicket haul.
| India | Sri Lanka | |
| Coach | Gary Kirsten | Trevor Bayliss |
| ICC Ranking | 3 | 7 |
| Key Players | Sehwag, Gambhir, Zaheer, Ishant | Mendis, Murali, Jayasuriya, Sangakkara |
| Drawing Broad | The only change for India is the return of Sehwag, in place of Rohit Sharma. Rohit made a calm, unbeaten 25 in Dambulla. | Muttiah Muralitharan has 501 wickets and is two away from overtaking Wasim Akram to become the highest wicket-taker in ODIs. |
| Weather | Excellent weather is being predicted for Saturday, January 31. | |
| Pitch | The Premadsa stadium is renowed for it's low and slow nature, so the captain winning the toss will bat first and then choke the other side with some slow stuff. In the last five ODIs, teams choosing to bat first have won on four occasions. | |
| Current Form | WWWWW | WLWWL (Recent last) |
| Head to head | Total 107, India 56, Sri Lanka 41, Tied 10 | |
