So it all comes down to this. After 41 days and 48 superb and jaw-dropping matches, Mumbai has got the finalist of the World Cup 2011. The defending champions didn't make it, the mercurial outsiders stumbled, and the strong contenders choked, the Ashes winners ran out of gas and for the first time in the history of the World Cup two Asian teams will compete for the title.
Both Sri Lanka and India have muscled their way to the final by crushing the oppositions by virtue of their powerful batting line ups. Both the teams' batting line-ups are blessed with stroke-players who are easily able to put the shivers down the spine of any opposition bowlers.
While India make big fuss but Sri Lanka just quietly do their work with targeted aggression.
Make no mistake, a triumph for Sri Lanka would be a huge upset, even if Kumar Sangakkara insists they are not underdogs. There is a gap between the two teams in terms of depth and Sri Lanka’s will be most exposed by the injuries that each side have incurred going into the match.
Angelo Mathews being ruled out has ruined the balance of Sri Lanka’s side, effectively leaving them without an all-rounder if Kumar Sangakkara is discounted. Whether it’s the precise seamer Nuwan Kulasekara or tall off-spinner Suraj Randiv who comes in, the batting will end at number six and with neither of Thilan Samaraweera or Chamara Silva capable of match-winning knocks, there will be a huge reliance on the top four.
Sri Lanka’s strength is their spin bowling, but no-one knows how to play Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis better than India, who has played against Sri Lanka in 30 one-day internationals across four countries in the past three years. Furthermore, the pitch looks hard and bouncy, having been re-laid four years ago with a layer of bricks under the surface.
That should favor the fast bowlers, and so India are leaning towards including Sreesanth in place of their injured player, Ashish Nehra. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is also an option and has played more games in the World Cup than Sreesanth, but Dhoni pointed out that three seamers plus Harbhajan Singh and two part-time spinners gives India more options.
The concern will be that Sreesanth is a bowler who can blow hot or blow cold, beautiful or ugly, loose his temper easily something which happened in his only game of the tournament so far when he lost his head and was hammered for 32 runs in two overs by the Bangladeshi openers.
Dhoni admitted that the only man who can control Sreesanth is Sreesanth, but said he was confident that the occasion of a World Cup final should be enough to motivate a certain composure and that element more than any other is likely to decide the match.
In the last two years, Sri Lanka and India have won eight games apiece against each other. In the last year, the record stands 4-3 in Sri Lanka's favor. In their last five encounters in India, though, the record stands 3-1, with one no result, in the home side's favor. However, these two teams have played each other so often - tomorrow's final will be the 30th time since July 2008 - that they should know everything there is to know about each other.
A World Cup final in itself is a grand occasion to shred the nerves, but on top of that both sides have a legend who will have one final crack at the trophy. Muttiah Muralitharan already has a World Cup victory among his long list of achievements, while Sachin Tendulkar has not. It’s impossible to put into words how much they mean to their respective countries and to the players in their side who grew up idolizing them.
A World Cup win for the little master certainly would be a great achievement amongst many in his glorious career. But time will tell who has the last smile.
India clearly the favourites ahead of Sri Lanka who just lose the plot due to injuries. Let us hope for a cracking contest.
Likely Starting XI:
India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (capt, wk), Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.
Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (capt, wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Kulasekara/Suraj Randiv, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis.
