Colombo: MS Dhoni's men have been on target in the first two matches but the Indian captain would be taking no chance under floodlights after India just about managed a close 15-run win in a nail-biting day-night affair at the Premadasa Stadium on Saturday.
Dhoni, who has led the team to seven successive ODI wins, has warned his teammates against dropping their guards before the series was claimed.
A few chinks were seen in the Indian amour in the second match when bowlers looked confused in the powerplay overs and Dhoni wants a more disciplined show by his bowlers.
The batting has also not fired but to be fair, the Indians have been hit hard by a few dubious umpiring decisions. But the top order batsmen have to get into the act quickly if they hope to clinch the series on Tuesday itself. Sachin Tendulkar in both match out as a wrong decision, while Yuvraj Singh also given leg-before wrong decision.
India | Sri Lanka | |
Coach | Gary Kirsten | Trevor Bayliss |
ICC Ranking | 3 | 7 |
Key Players | Sehwag, Sachin, Zaheer, Ishant | Murali, Jayasuriya, Mahela, Kulashekara |
Drawing Broad | Seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji was on Monday drafted into the Indian team for the rest of the Sri Lanka tour. | Muttiah Muralitharan has 501 wickets and is only one wicket away from equal Wasim Akram records. |
Weather | Excellent weather is being predicted for Tuesday, February 3 like 2nd ODI. | |
Pitch | The Premadsa stadium is renowed for it's low and slow nature. In the last five ODIs, teams choosing to bat first have won on all occasions. | |
Current Form | WWWWW | LWWLL (Recent last) |
Head to head | Total 108, India 57, Sri Lanka 41, Tied 10 |