India may have had the better results during the spate of contests against Sri Lanka over the last couple of years but, in this Asia Cup, the hosts have looked significantly superior. They have a more settled batting line-up, greater potency in their bowling attack and impressive reserves who filled in admirably during the dress rehearsal when the bigger names were missing. India's performance lacked the assuredness of their opponents, and they begin Thursday's final with more glitches to rectify.
The foremost concern with India's batting is the middle order. Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli have not matched the consistency of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, while Ravindra Jadeja, an allrounder, has only kept his place with his tidy left-arm spin. His counterpart Angelo Mathews, on the other hand, has lived up to his role successfully. The worry over Virender Sehwag's absence was eased by a solid innings from his replacement Dinesh Karthik on Tuesday, but Sri Lanka's opening combination of Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan has inspired greater confidence.
The return of Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh will strengthen India's bowling but those changes will be driven more by necessity and limited choices. Against the best-available Indian batting line-up, Farveez Maharoof did more than enough to ensure that team selection for the final remained a less than straightforward issue for Sri Lanka. With Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara and Muttiah Muralitharan in good form, amid stability in the batting, India need a quick turnaround to unsettle Sri Lanka's conviction.
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