Monday, January 26, 2009

Murali eyes record against India

One-day international, Dambulla: Sri Lanka v India
Play starts 0900 GMT Wednesday

Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan
Muralitharan reached 500 in the recent series against Pakistan

Muttiah Muralitharan will have another world record in his sights when Sri Lanka begin a one-day series against India at Dambulla on Wednesday.

Muralitharan, already Test cricket's leading wicket-taker, needs three more victims to overtake Wasim Akram's limited overs total of 502.

"The milestones are not that important for me. Winning as a team is far more important," the spin bowler said.

India could give a debut to 20-year-old left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.

He was named in the tour squad after Harbhajan Singh was forced to miss the trip because of a hamstring injury.

606: DEBATE

Uncapped Jadeja is competing for a place in the side with Pragyan Ojha, who has only played five one-dayers, and skipper Mahendra Dhoni admitted Harbhajan's experience would be missed.

"He has been the pick of the bowlers when it comes to spinners, whether you are bowling first, second or during powerplays," said Dhoni.

India won 3-2 on their last tour five months ago, but Dhoni insisted: "Playing Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka is always tough. We may have won the last series but they must have seen what went wrong for them.

"One of the things that went wrong was the toss - that can be crucial when you are playing here, both under lights when the ball moves around in the evening and at Dambulla, where it does a lot during day games."

Ravindra Jadeja
India hope Jadeja will justify the decision of the selectors

Sri Lanka restored confidence with a recent 2-1 win over Pakistan and in Muralitharan and spin partner Ajantha Mendis have bowlers clever enough to bamboozle most batsman.

"We have not been at our best in recent months, but we have still been winning and that has been encouraging, showing our character under pressure," said skipper Mahela Jayawardene.

"We hope to now build on the confidence gained from our performance in Pakistan in what is going to be a very tough series against India, now one of the best teams in the world."

Jayawardene's own form is one of Sri Lanka's chief concerns, as he has only managed 75 runs in his last 10 innings.

"I know I need to contribute to my team with the bat. I sensed some improvement during the Pakistan series and I hope I will return to form against India."


Sri Lanka (from): Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilina Kandamby, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilina Thushara, Angelo Mathews.

India (from): Mahendra Dhoni (captain & wk), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar.

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