It has been a tumultuous week at the World Cup. Whatever euphoria that the non partisan cricket fan felt after the twin upsets of last Saturday soon vanished the next day as news of Bob Woolmer’s death filtered in.

Since then it has been a week full of intrigue mostly. Everybody and their pet dog have seemed to have their own theories on Bob’s death. None have been more bizarre though than Sarfaraz Nawaz’s claim that Woolmer was done in by elements close to a betting ring that was involved in fixing Pakistan’s World Cup games in cahoots with five members of the Pakistani squad. Strangely no one seems to have asked him who those five were. And then a few hours ago, the Indian tabloid Times of India’s online edition quoted “jailed” don Babloo Srivatsava, saying that Dawood Ibrahim was involved too. And the same news report says that since January 2005, the Pegasus Hotel, the scene of Woolmer’s death has seen two other murders in the past two years. And so, almost a week after Woolmer’s death, the circus continues with criminal pathologists from the US getting involved alongside a couple of Scotland Yard detectives.

It is against this backdrop that perhaps the most important preliminary game unfolds tomorrow at the Queen’s Park Oval at Port Spain, where two sub-continental rivals meet in a vital Group B game. India, the “commercial favorites” of this world cup, plays Sri Lanka in a game that has huge implications on the commercial success of this World Cup. It is perhaps sad that the commercial implications are touted much more than the potential impact on the quality of cricket if India were to lose, but that is merely a reflection of the consumer intensive nature of the circus that is the one day game.

Recent results point towards India’s dominance over Sri Lanka in the one day format with India holding an 8-2 edge in the last 10 games. But in a tournament like the World Cup, such trends are only as good as the last game. And even though India won the last series between the sides (just before the World Cup) comfortably, it has to be said that Sri Lanka’s two senior-most bowlers, Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas had been rested for that series. So Sri Lanka actually possesses the edge over India when it comes to the bowling. But India’s batting, in spite of the loss against Bangladesh, is the most feared in the game today. So logically, India should go into this match confident of holding its own against Vaas, Murali and Co.

However recently, India’s predilection in eschewing singles while going after the boundaries has been the cause of some of their sub par performances and it appears that if the boundaries are choked, then it is possible to keep this Indian juggernaut silent. This is a situation that any intelligent team could exploit and Sri Lanka is certainly capable of doing just that. So the key for the Indians is to look for the singles, while their deep batting order is certainly capable of big shots.

The Indian bowlers will have to bowl to a plan and cut down on the extras. And the Indian fielding, which has been touted as one of their weak spots will have to go up a notch. Team composition might play a role in this, but we shall come to that later.

The Lankans, for their part, will aim to exploit the India’s opening spells which has seemed sub par in the last two games. Jayasuriya’s usual fireworks will help them launch toward a big total and or will be ideal to mount a chase too should India bat first. I think Sri Lanka possesses a much deeper combination that people give them credit for. The continued absence of a class player such as Atapattu cooling his heels in the dressing room is a sure sign.

Before the World Cup began, Kumar Sangakkara mentioned that in the past Murali’s brief has been to keep the batsmen quiet and dry up the run flow while the other bowlers clean up the wickets. I don’t quite see that trend since batsmen seem be usually bamboozled by Murali enough to lose their wickets to him and he is probably the only bowler that makes the Indians wary. They are likely to give him (and perhaps Vaas too) the due respect during his 10 overs while going after the others.

As various people have said, the toss is an important variable. And while it appears that a fair majority of the games between these teams have gone to the team that bowled first, this game could be drastically different given that the pitches in this World Cup have been true so far with a fair bit of support to both the batsmen and the bowlers. And Port of Spain has been facing a fair bit of rain these past few days. So the decision to bat or bowl will be tricky.

The elevens will also not be decided till the last moment, but it looks like for India, Harbhajan will play instead of Kumble. I think it also makes sense to hand Sreesanth his first World Cup cap and the new ball alongside Zaheer. And India might get in Pathan instead of an “undercooked” Uthappa. Sri Lanka is likely to go in with an unchanged team since they are in a roll currently.

Cricinfo says that the diaspora has landed in West Indies in rather heavy numbers and this might cause the first sold out game in Port of Spain. Additionally this game hold significant for either team. India has to win to maximize their chances of making the next round while Sri Lanka needs to win to go into the Super 8 with maximum points possible. So the two teams have everything to lose from this game that promises to be an epic.

And it is a shame that such an important game has to happen on a day that I have to be at work. Bah!

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