India-Sri Lanka face off in first one-dayer today
All eyes on Tendulkar, Jayasuriya

NAGPUR—All eyes will be on Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya when the Indian and Sri Lankan cricket teams take the field here Tuesday for the first of their seven-match one-day internationals.
Tendulkar is returning after a six-month layoff induced by an elbow injury while the Sri Lankan master blaster will be playing despite a shoulder injury he sustained during a practice match against a Mumbai Cricket Association team last week.
Delhi opener Gautam Gambhir and left arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh will have to sit out of the match, new Indian captain Rahul Dravid said at the pre-match press conference here Monday.
‘I’m very excited,’ he added. Dravid’s in-laws live in this second Maharashtra capital.
Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu said Jayasuriya would most probably play the match, even as he ruled out any doubt about Muttiah Muralitharan’s fitness since he had bowled sparingly at the nets.
‘It’s not how many balls you bowl the day before the match. Murali is fit and fine,’ Atapattu maintained.
Meanwhile, it is all systems go at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium here.
‘We have sold 90 percent of the tickets. All security arrangements are also in place,’ VCA Secretary Rajan Nair said.
‘There are around 35,200 tickets, out of which, around 31,000 are for the public while the rest will be complementary passes,’ he added.
The last match India played at the VCA Stadium was the third Test against Australia in 2004.
Sri Lanka, touring India after a surprisingly long gap of about eight years, will be keen to continue the momentum following wins over India in two important finals in the last one year.
Sri Lanka had beaten India in the final of the one-day triangular series at home in August. It was the second straight final in which Sri Lanka had thrashed India, the earlier being the title clash of the Asia Cup in Colombo in August 2004.
In fact, Sri Lanka have won four of the last five matches between the two countries — an indication of the sway that the world No. 2 one-day side has had over India.
The other matches of the series will be played at Mohali (Oct 28), Jaipur (Oct 31), Pune (Nov 3), Ahmedabad (Nov 6), Rajkot (Nov 9) and Baroda (Nov 12).
India: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid (Captain), Yuvraj Singh, Y. Venugopal Rao, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Wicketkeeper), Jai Prakash Yadav, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik. Supersub: S Sreesanth.
Sri Lanka: Marvan Atapattu (Captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (Wicket keeper), Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Upul Chandana, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Muttiah Muralitharan. Supersub: Dilhara Fernando/Dilahara Lokuhettige).
Umpires: Billy Bowden and K. Hariharan, Match referee: Alan Hurst.—Agencies