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09-Feb-2009 17:33:00 GMT
India in Sri Lanka, 2008/09

Srilanka v India Twenty20, Colombo, February 10 - Preview

Colombo: After demolishing Sri Lanka 4-1 in the ODI series, India hold a distinct edge over the depleted hosts when they meet in the first T20 match on Lankan soil.

Sri Lanka will hope to carry forward some of the confidence regained after winning the fifth and final match but Sunday's defeat was just a blip on the Indian team's radar after Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men dictated terms for the most part of the series.

With Sri Lanka deciding to rest key players, including regular captain Mahela Jayawardene, deputy Kumar Sangakkara and the spin twins of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, Tillakaratne Dilshan will have an unenviable task at hand when he walks out for the toss on Tuesday.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, appoints captain of Twenty20 team. He will juggle captaincy and wicketkeeping in the upcoming Twenty20 international against India, has said Sri Lanka will benefit by persisting with him as an opener. In 11 matches as an opener, Dilshan averages 56.22 with one hundred and three half-centuries at a strike rate of 94.57.

Sachin Tendulkar has returned early from India's tour of Sri Lanka, and will miss the Twenty20 international on Tuesday. Tendulkar left on Sunday night since he was not part of the Twenty20 squad, team manager Prakash Dixit confirmed.

Tendulkar had a torrid time in the first three games of the tour. Opening the batting, he had scores of 5, 6 and 7, and fell leg-before in all three games. However, all three decisions were debatable, leading to questions over the umpiring.


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