Head to head

There will be interesting individual battles within the main battle as both India and Sri Lanka do their homework and try to home in on perceived weaknesses. Here are a few head-to-head contests:

Sanath Jayasuriya has tormented bowlers of all kinds for so long now that he's always a vital member of the Sri Lankan batting line-up when the teamsheet is finalised. Any team coming up against Sri Lanka will plan to neutralise Jayasuriya's threat, and India could well turn to Ajit Agarkar to do the job. Agarkar, who predominantly bowls outswing to right-handed batsmen, will get the ball to shape back in to the left-handed Jayasuriya consistently and, if he can hit the right lengths, will be a genuine threat. In the recently concluded series against West Indies Agarkar repeatedly picked up Chris Gayle, both lbw and bowled, with the ball that came in.

Sri Lanka's firepower may be stacked up at the top, but in Tillakaratne Dilshan they have a batsman capable of explosive innings coming down the order. With several captains saying that the middle-overs of the innings could be crucial to the fortunes of teams in the World Cup, Sri Lanka will be watching carefully how, and how often, Dilshan can come off. The fact that he plays unorthodox strokes, hitting the ball from the stumps on both sides of the wicket, means that the manner in which he handles Anil Kumble could be critical. Given Kumble's metronomic efficiency, if Dilshan misses he will be out.

Virender Sehwag's run of poor form may have affected him deeply but the Indian team has managed quite alright in his absence, thanks mainly to the marauding Robin Uthappa at the top of the order. While it is early days in his international career, Uthappa has shown he has the eye and the fast hands, backed by raw power, to hit cleanly through the line in the early part of the innings when the field restrictions are on. Whether he can do the same when the ball is moving around a bit remains to be seen but he will now be tested against raw pace. Lasith Malinga has blasted out batsmen from the top order with regularity and he will be looking to get Uthappa out of the way in a hurry, for this is one batsman who does not believe in simply occupying the crease.

Farveez Maharoof was one of the surprise packages for Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy when he recorded a seven-for against West Indies in Mumbai. He has the ability to dart the ball laterally off the surface - especially if the ball grips a bit - which allows him to trouble batsmen even when the ball is not moving in the air. Virender Sehwag, who is likely to bat in the middle-order, will have to contend with Maharoof. Given Sehwag's tendency to sometimes play without moving his feet much, the manner in which he counters balls that move off the pitch could well determine how successful he is.

Only once in the history of international cricket have wicketkeepers from either side scored a century in the same match. That happened at Jaipur, where Mahendra Singh Dhoni played one of the most astonishing knocks of recent times, scoring 183. Sangakkara, by no means an inferior batsman but not quite in the same league when it comes to thrashing the ball, had earlier done his bit, scoring an unbeaten 138 to set up the match. For India, just like Sri Lanka, the runs the wicketkeeper makes is crucial to the balance of the team. Which of them is the more consistent could have a big say in the outcome of the series.