World Cup 2011- Preview: Final, India vs Sri Lanka, Mumbai, 2 April 2011

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.

Watch India vs SriLanka Final Online Live – World Cup 2011

ICC World Cup 2011, final match played between two host nations India and Sri Lanka on March 30th, 2011 at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. With this match World Cup 2011 comes to end tomorrow and hope India will lift the cup second time. Alternatively, we have published 10 Awesome websites to watch circket World Cup 2011 online and now in this post we are listing the similar websites for our users.

Here are the ways by which you can watch India vs Sri Lanka final match live online through high quality streaming links.

01. ESPN Star Sports

02. Crictime

03. Cricfire

04. Extracover

05. Hitcric

06. Crick3t

There are also user channels which offer live cricket matched like

01. Ustream

02. Justin

03. Freedocast

Hope you all enjoy the final match and do not forget to cheer for India.

Shah Rukh Khan to watch India vs Sri Lanka CWC final live

Shah Rukh Khan missed the epic encounter between India vs Pakistan at Mohali but he will watch the CWC final live along with family.

Apart from Shah Rukh Khan, several other Bollywood celebrities, including Aamir Khan and Farhan Akhtar have also planned to watch the game live from Wankhede.

On the other hand, Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly have also demanded for two final tickets for every member.

The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who watched the semifinal match between India and Pakistan, will watch the game on TV. He also expressed his wish that India should lift the coveted trophy.

India vs Lanka: Why Kumar Sangakkara needs to win

Kumar Sangakkara has never been shy of attaching a higher significance to cricket. After winning the semi-final against New Zealand, which also ended their hosting involvement in the tournament, he said life in Sri Lanka seems normal when cricket is played. Before the final against India, he said in a similar vein, "It [winning the World Cup] means everything. We have come through a very tough period. A lot of people have laid down lives for our country. In this new future, hopefully we can take home the World Cup, and that will be even more occasion for celebration."

It is a beautiful thought, a sport healing the wounds of a nation, but it is also an unnecessary burden on a game. To Sangakkara and his team, though, bringing smiles to the faces of a beleaguered people is an obvious motivation. They don't seem to see it as extra pressure. Every Sri Lankan player carries a Sri Lankan flag with him, and the first thing they do when they reach a dressing room is to place those flags over their seats.

Sangakkara has led Sri Lanka during a tumultuous period for their cricket. His first assignment as captain was when the team was coming out of the shock of Lahore. In their first tournament back, they played an entertaining brand of cricket, and made it to the final of the World Twenty20 in England. Since then there have been unsubstantiated match-fixing claims, past players have not been subtle with their displeasure over the players' involvement with the IPL, there was controversy involving a senior player when the team went to Zimbabwe, there has been political pressure to keep playing players who were better off making way for youngsters, and of course Muttiah Muralitharan has slowly phased himself out. It has been tough to keep the team together, says a team source, but Sangakkara has managed to do that.

Sangakkara has also done it his way. He has managed to put together a team that has forged its own identity, one that plays its own brand of cricket. His side has been different from the 1996 side, and although it is an extension of Mahela Jayawardene's side, there is a Sangakkara stamp on it. Jayawardene still plays a significant part in where the team heads, but Sangakkara brings his own touch too.

He talks about the importance of not wanting to be some other team. "The inspiration has always been there since they [the 1996 team] won," Sangakkara said. "Everything that has come after is because that was a big factor. For us, 1996 is that particular year that belongs to that particular team. Since then there have been other teams trying to forge their own path and leave their own legacy for Sri Lankan cricket. Sri Lanka has kicked on from that, achieved great heights in cricket. A World Cup is a World Cup, be it 1996 or 2011."

Sangakkara, though not tactically as sharp as Jayawardene, has focused a lot on the fielding and the aggression. He doesn't mind gamesmanship, he doesn't preach. He does not get intimidated, nor does his side. He has tried to bring a bit of Australia to a talented side in order to make sure they win more. The side has responded too. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lasith Malinga have been the cornerstones. Nor have they turned their backs on their traditional strengths. Sangakkara has strived for a delicate mix, where Thilan Samaraweera and Dilshan co-exist, and complement.

Sangakkara is also a man aware of the history and is conscious of the legacy that he leaves behind. He has been part of a side that has made a World Cup final, he has captained the side to a World Twenty20 final, and led it to a first ODI series win in Australia, but he knows legacies are not built on finals but on title wins. On Test wins in Australia, South Africa and India, for which they will hopefully get more chances in the new FTP. On World Cup wins, for which they have earned a second shot in a row.

"It's just the occasion. Use the occasion to lift yourselves," Sangakkara said. "World Cups bring out the best in players, sometimes the worst. I think, for us, tomorrow is going to be about controlled aggression. Not being too emotional about anything, trying to be clinical, trying to stay grounded, and in the moment. Take things as they come. You can plan and strategise as much as possible, but things can change out there in the middle. Be fluid, and do what we know we can do."

World Cups often bring closures to teams. There is a certain finality to the way they end. At the end of the World Cups, teams are reorganised with the next World Cup being part of the vision. Already many captains of vanquished sides have relinquished their positions. Tomorrow one captain will surely become one of his country's best ever. The runners-up will just be a honourable mention. Sangakkara and Jayawardene know that feeling from four years ago. They wouldn't want to experience it again.