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Battle royale on the cards in Colombo

R Mohan Babu in Colombo

A bouyant India locks horns with world champions Sri Lanka, in the final of the Singer Akai Nidahas tournament at the Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday, in a day-night game.

A battle royale is on the cards, as both the teams declared that they would go flat out to win the trophy in the rain-marred tri-nation tournament. Both teams have respect for their opponents, and the respective captains said here today that it could be anybody's game.

If Sri Lanka wins tomorrow, it will break a jinx -- thus far, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan have failed to hold the tournaments they hosted to commemorate their own Independence Day anniversaries.

Sri Lanka won India's Independence Trophy, South Africa won in Pakistan, and India won in Bangladesh.

While India was likely to retain the same team, Sri Lanka might opt for a couple of changes in their composition. The hosts might bring in the exterienced Pramodya Wickramasinghe in place of Suresh Perera or spinner Niroshan Bandaratillake. However, both teams are likely to name their playing elevens just before the match.

Fortunately, there has been no rain in Colombo for the last couple of days and the organisers are hoping for a full match tomorrow. The rules also provide for utlising July eight as a reserve day.

Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad and captain Mohammad Azharuddin said the team was in the right spirit for tomorrow's game, despite three rest days. "The boys have been doing workouts and are fit for tomorrow's match," Gaikwad said.

While the Indians had a strenuous net session lasting over three hours, the Sri Lankans preferred to relax after their 87 run victory against New Zealand on Sunday.

Lankan skipper Ranatunga said he would decide on the final composition of his team after studying the weather conditions and the nature of the pitch. If it is a shortened game, the playing combination might change, he indicated.

Gaikwad for his part said he was happy with the overall performance of his team, but expressed dissatisfaction that India failed to defeat Sri Lanka in their July 3 encounter, despite chasing a modest target of 172.