After two horrendous outings on the low and slow Dambulla pitch, Indian batsmen will take a lot of heart from the batting-friendly wicket at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo when they take on Sri Lanka in the third cricket one-dayer on Sunday.
Although India made heavy weather of the second ODI before scraping through by three wickets, the tourists will once again be banking on their batting prowess to seize the lead in the five-match series.
The pitch at the Premadasa Stadium is expected to be full of runs in the initial overs and India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni would heave a sigh of relief as his in-form opener Gautam Gambhir has recovered fully from a stiff neck and is expected to open with Virat Kohli, who displayed a gutsy performance in the last match.
Moreover, Indian batsmen can also take some consolation from the fact that only one batsman -- Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawarrdene -- from either side has managed to cross half-century mark in the first two ODIs, whereas the Premadasa wicket is a traditional ODI pitch that offers runs for the batsmen and purchase for the spinners.
Another heartening news for India is that middle-order batsman Subramaniam Badrinath has been a revelation during the last match and has displayed ample maturity in his debut game to pull his side out of trouble.
If not for Badrinath's gutsy and patient unbeaten 27, India could have tasted their second defeat in the series.
However, what remains a matter of concern for Dhoni is his deputy Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma's inconsistent form.
Though Yuvraj showed signs of regaining his explosive form, hammering the Lankan XI bowlers to score a blistering 172 in the lone practice match ahead of the series, he could only manage 43 runs in the first two ODIs.
Unlike the batsmen, it was heartening to see the performances of Indian seamers. Left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel have been on song after returing to the side and are being ably supported by Praveen Kumar who bowled well in the second match.
However, Harbhajan Singh-led spin department is yet to prove their mettle in the series so far, compared to the deadly Lankan spin duo of Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Athough Sri Lanka looked a much better side in the entire series starting from the Tests, skipper Mahela Jayawardene has a thing or two to worry about, especially the form of his top order.
The top order is yet to fire in the series, leaving a daunting task at the hands of middle-order. But inspite of the scenario, Jayawardene is against making drastic changes in the squad.
Opening combination has been a problem for the Lankans in the series with both Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya failing to click. In that scenario, Malinda Warnapura, who did well in the Test series, could well be roped in at the start of the innings.
"I don't think that after two games we will go in for any major changes. But it is something we will have to think about before the next game," said Jayawardena.
However, the hosts' formidable bowling department will be strengthened by the inclusion of veteran Chaminda Vaas, who is likely to return to the team after recovering from a minor injury.
The Lankans' supremacy in bowling can be gauged from the fact that despite posting a low taget of 143 on the board in the last match, their bowlers almost succeeded in restricting India who had to dig their skin out to win the game.
The toss will play a crucial in the match as both the captains, Dhoni and Jayawardene won the match batting second.
It will be interesting to see what they do if they win the toss as batting second in a day and night encounter could pose problems and going by statistics teams that have won the toss and opted to bat first have won 32 times and lost 22.
Teams (from):
India: M S Dhoni (capt), Subramaniam Badrinath, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, R P Singh and Parthiv Patel.
Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Kapugedera, Chamara Silva, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Mahela Udawatte, Dilhara Fernando, Jehan Mubarak and Malinda Warnapura.
