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NEWS India-Sri Lanka ODI Series 2007>Wounded India desperate to level series in Goa 13th Feb 2007 22.04 IST By Agencies Still licking the wounds of their shock five-run defeat in the last game at Rajkot, India will be desperate to level the four-match series 1-1 as they go into the must-win third one-dayer against Sri Lanka on Wednesday in Goa. India will hope that their out-of-form players like Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan regain their touch as both of them have been selected for the World Cup.
Pathan looked pretty insipid with the ball in the only match he has played after his return against West Indies while Sehwag got out to a poor shot while scoring 19 in the middle order, during the unsuccessful run-chase against the Lankans at Rajkot in the second tie. To add to his misery, Pathan is having fitness problems. He missed the first two ties in this series with soreness in his bowling shoulder which forced the selectors to name UP's Rudra Pratap Singh as cover for him. India received a big boost ahead of the match with Yuvraj Singh and Ajit Agarkar being declared fit for the must-win game, which gives some of the struggling World Cup team members another chance to regain their touch. Yuvraj and Agarkar, who had to sit out of the first two matches of the four-match series, have recovered completely from niggling injuries and sickness to be drafted in the shorlisted 12 for the game, which the hosts need to win to keep themselves afloat. Irfan Pathan , who has still not recovered from a sore shoulder which forced him to stay out of the first two matches, has still not recovered from the niggle and will again be confined to the dressing room. The Indian team management have also decided to rest pacer S Sreesanth while veteran spinner Anil Kumble has pulled out because of personal reasons. "Except that Irfan is still not 100 per cent fit, most of the players have recovered well and that is a good sign for us," captain Rahul Dravid said. "In the last couple of games, Yuvraj had back spasms. But he is much better now and had fielded and batted. He is fit enough to be considered in the 12," said Dravid, adding that Sourav Ganguly, who hurt his thumb while fielding in the slips in Rajkot, was also fully fit. With the shock five-run defeat in Rajkot still fresh in their minds, Dravid has promised that his team will not make the same mistakes, which allowed the Sri Lankans to win the match. "Like them (Lankans) we also want to win the match tomorrow. In the last match till 92nd or 93rd overs we were in control. We lost our grip only in the last five or six overs and will not allow it to be repeated. We had our chances. Their team is good and is playing well of late," Dravid said. Rain can again play spoilsport with clouds hovering around today. The first match at Kolkata was washed out. Led by Mahela Jayawardene, this Sri Lankan outfit looks a changed side and more committed from the one that lost 1-6 to India 14 months before. They will be eager to carry on their good show and nail the hosts here. At Rajkot, India were cruising along nicely after the century stand between Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar. But the ship lost its rudder once the two veterans were dismissed and some splendid bowling and fielding effort by Sri Lanka saw them pull off a thrilling win. Among the positives for India at Rajkot were the fine batting exhibition of Tendulkar, who increasingly looks like the master batsman of yore, and Ganguly, who has made a strong comeback after having been kept out of the ODI team for more than 15 months. The bowling of Munaf Patel and S Sreesanth was also impressive with the duo reducing the Lankans to 58 for four in helpful conditions before Kumar Sangakarra's classy century bailed the visitors out of the woods. The less-than-impressive bowling of seasoned Anil Kumble, who has never been a big threat against the Lankans in his illustrious career, the sub-par fielding and the tendency to lose way from a winning position are things that India would have taken note of. What would be heartening for the visitors was the way sling-arm pacer Lasith Malinga came storming back after the mauling he received from Tendulkar in his first spell of five overs in which he gave away 51 runs. The player with a weird hair-do superbly reverse swung the old ball in his second spell and played an important role in his team's win. The visitors would be looking forward to an encore of this sort from their bowlers against the star-studded Indian batting line-up in the tie tomorrow, which could go a long way in pulling the rug from under the home team's feet and sewing up the series ahead of the last tie. The teams (from): India: Rahul Dravid (Capt.), Sourav Ganguly , Robin Uthappa , Sachin Tendulkar , Virender Shewag , Yuvraj Singh , Mahendra Dhoni (wk), Ajit Agarkar , Harbhajan Singh , Munaf Patel , Zaheer Khan and Dinesh Kaarthick . Sri Lanka: Mahela de Silva Jayawardene (Capt.), Sanath Teran Jayasuriya , Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakarra (wk), Marvan Samson Atapattu , Russel Arnold, Tilekaratne Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof , Upul Chandana, Chamara Silva, Malinga Bandara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Zoysa, Nuwan Kulasekara. Umpires: Simon Taufel and Ameesh Saheba Third umpire: Suresh Shastri. Also View In-Depth Coverage: India-Sri Lanka ODI Series 2007 Team Page: India Team Page: Sri Lanka | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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