Pre Match Analysis - India vs Sri Lanka ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at Wankhede Stadium Mumbai

So its a final showdown. India and Sri Lanka will go all guns blazing in this fantastic finals of the World Cup 2011. Lets analyze on how the game will progress:

The pitch:

The pitch in Wankhede stadium, Mumbai is conducive to stroke play, with 270-300 being a good target to set for the opposition. Its also conducive to spin as it slows down towards the end. However, unlike the semi-final pitch at Mohali, this should be very much playable until the end.

Batting:


Sr Lanka batting: Probably for the first time, India will face an opposition that has a strong opening pair. India needs some really good bowling in the first 5-10 overs to get a breakthrough. If they can get the top 3 batsmen out cheaply, the middle and lower order is very fragile. Not only that, the middle and lower orders have never really gotten a decent chance to show their skills. We saw a glimpse of how they nearly collapsed in the semi finals against New Zealand. As far as the Indian batting goes, we have seen how demoralizing to the bowlers Sehwag can be. The good thing for India is that he always plays top cricket against Sri Lanka. In this world cup Sehwag has dominated Pakistan and the so-called in-form South African bowling. For Sachin, this is a perfectly scripted tale - Finals of the World cup at his home ground and 100th century in the making.

Bowling:

Sri Lankan bowling: If India can see off Malinga, they can post a mammoth total which can intimidate the Lankans. Another strategy they can adopt is to pulverize him right at the beginning. Though this carries a risk, we know what it can do to someone like Umar Gul. Remember his words "I will target India's top order". He was targeted brutally by Sehwag right from the get go.

Fielding:

Indians have a slight edge here but Sri Lankans are not bad either. Its quite equally posied but I think the trio of Yuvraj-Kohli-Raina adds a punch.

Interesting mythological facts:

Saturday is Hanuman-ji's day. We all know what HE did to Lanka!

In the Surya Sanhita it is said that Hanuman was born on a Saturday (Shanivar). In Maharashtra, Saturday is considered as an auspicious day for His worship.

So who will win?


Its going to be a cracker of a match and my bet is on India to win the match and lift the 2011 World Cup. What do you think? Drop in your comments and analysis.