2017 ICC Champions Trophy: Captain’s Corner – Five Tactics Sri Lanka Must Use To Beat India

Nov 2, 2023 at 3:45 PM

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2017 ICC Champions Trophy: Captain’s Corner – Five Tactics Sri Lanka Must Use To Beat India

Sri Lanka after losing their opening game against South Africa are set to take on the defending champions in a must win game. After thrashing their arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening game, India will be starting as clear favourites. A win here will take India into the semi-finals and will knock Sri Lanka out of the tournament.

 

It’s going to be a big game for the Lankans and they have to be at their very best to stand a chance against this very well balanced Indian side. Angelo Mathews is declared fit for this match which is good news for the Lankans. But he will play only as a batsman.

 

So, here are the 5 tactics Sri Lanka must get right to win against India.

Slipped through the fingers. Photo Credit: AFP
  1. Lasith Malinga to be at his very best:-

Sri Lanka have got a pretty decent pace battery with Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep and their spear head Lasith Malinga. For Sri Lanka to stand against India, their spear head Malinga needs to be at his absolute best. He has been one of the best fast bowlers of this generation in this format of the game. His ability to take wickets with the new ball and give absolutely nothing away in the death overs make him a complete bowler. Sri Lanka needs him to be at his very best both with the new ball and at the death to stop the mighty Indian batting line up from getting a big score. If he bowls at his best, the others can get the inspiration and bowl around him.

  1. Play Lakshan Sandakan :-

Wrist spinners have turned out to be the match winners in the shorter formats of the game especially in the last 3-4 years. Sri Lanka have a pretty good one in Lakshan Sandakan, but they chose not to play him versus South Africa and went with 2 all rounders. That move cost them dearly. After getting to a slow start, South Africa cut loose against the two part timers and piled 136 runs off their 20 overs and ended up with 299 on the board. The lack of wicket taking option in middle overs cost Sri Lanka. So they have to find a spot for the chinaman bowler in the playing XI.

  1. Middle order to step up:-

Sri Lanka has perhaps the weakest middle order among top teams in this Champions Trophy with only skipper Mathews being the experienced player. There is a lot of promise though, with young guns like Mendis & Chandimal, but they have failed to live up to the expectations till now. So for the big game tomorrow they need their middle order to punch above their weight and put up a solid performance.

  1. Niroshan Dickwella to continue his good form:-

Big blow for Sri Lanka from last match was their stand-in captain Upul Tharanga handed over with a one match ban for slow over rate. Though they will have their skipper Angelo back for the game, they will surely miss the services of Tharanga as their opener. Dickwella and Tharanga have proved to be a promising pair for the Sri Lankans in the very few matches they have opened. They will miss Tharanga and hence would want Dickwella to step up and play a long innings. He has been giving them flying starts but often failed to convert them into big scores. So Sri Lanka would want him to play a big innings tomorrow and get them off to a good start.

Pic Credits: Daily Star
  1. Get India’s Top three early:-

The nucleus of the mighty Indian batting line up lies in its top 3. Though they have the experience of Yuvraj Singh & MS Dhoni in the middle order, its often the top 3 that sets up the big scores. Adding to that, all of India’s top 3 have a great record against the Sri Lankans. Shikhar Dhawan averages 62 against the Lankans and Virat Kohli has always loved batting them. The other opener Rohit Sharma has recorded the highest individual score in this format of 264 against the same country. If two of these three get going then it will be really hard for the Lankans to stop India from posting a massive score. So, they should get them as early as possible and have a crack at the middle order.

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