Having entered the final by the skin of their teeth, India must plug the loopholes if they have to save themselves from yet another humiliation against Sri Lanka in the triangular cricket series summit clash in Colombo on Tuesday.
India, who seemed to be facing several problems, have rarely beaten Sri Lanka in their den, more so in finals, and in order for the script to be different this time around they need huge improvement in more than one area.
India's top order has been a matter of concern on this trip and the malaise has stemmed from their dashing opener Virender Sehwag himself.
The portly batsman has appeared worn out by the pressure of vice-captaincy and the role of a senior leading the rest by example.
| |||||||||||
Ganguly now needs a bigger slice of luck than ever before in his career as he aims to shrug off the arm injury suffered during the match against West Indies on Sunday and offload the bruising effect on the Sri Lankans, now reinforced with the return of Chaminda Vaas.
It is a make or break moment for Indian cricket's possibly the greatest captain ever.
India's batting in recent years has revolved around Rahul Dravid, who is hoping that he has exhausted his quota of failures after two indifferent outings in the past one week.
Dravid needs to be at his very best if the dragon of Sri Lanka is to be slayed in its own territory.
Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, after their marathon innings against West Indies, have eased a few blues in India's middle-order.
Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao would be hoping for another chance to show that they belong to this arena.
India are tossing with the idea of including two spinners in the final. Anil Kumble has looked the part and Harbhajan Singh is always in the scheme of things, not dropped but only rested against the West Indies on Sunday.
The three left-arm pacemen theory could be tossed into the Indian Ocean tomorrow as the visitors look to take the hosts by surprise.
Sri Lanka have their own worries. They are relying too much on their lower order to bail them out and the top order of Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumara Sangakkara, but for an odd moment or two, have not clicked as a group.
Consequently, Tilakratne Dilshan and Russel Arnold, with some cameos from the tail, have come up with enterprising knocks to pull the team out of precarious positions on a few times.
The strength of the hosts has been their bowling and fielding and they looked razor sharp in these areas.
The return of Vaas will only bolster their bowling attack even though Nuwan Zoysa, who played his first match of the series against West Indies on Saturday, was rusty in his first game.
Farvez Mahroof, by the dint of his performance with bat and bowl, will not be touched in the eleven. Muttiah Muralitharan is a big match player and so are Jayasuriya, Vaas and Atapattu.
It is a daunting combination, a quartet who can play a winning hand in any sticky situation.
Jayasuriya will look to reinforce his image of a marauder in the eyes of the Indians and then the target of 10,000 runs in one-day internationals will come as a matter of routine.
India have twice run Sri Lanka close in the tournament and they would be looking to take that extra step which puts them past the finishing line.
It would need an inspired performance from half a dozen or so top quality players in their ranks rather than an average modest contribution from them.
It is a big moment and India certainly need a man for the moment.
