From test matches to T20

The action shifts from the 5 day matches to a 3-hour one. Sri Lanka would have enjoyed the break from the Mumbai test and renewed their energies - the coach and the support staff would have been over-worked during this time to ensure that the negative energies are totally wiped off the mind of the Lankans. The ODI/T20 specialists who have flown in recently will also lift the dressing room atmosphere. Muttiah Muralitharan is not likely to play because of a finger injury. Another veteran Sanath Jayasuriya will return to the fold. Others who come into the squad are Chamara Kapugedara, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Kaushal Weeraratne, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara and Lasith Malinga.

India must have spent their time in enjoying their No.1 rankings in the test matches. Of course, T20 is a different ball-game and they seem to have slipped recently. The fact that this series is in India will help the team however. India announced the squad with 3 newcomers - R Ashwin, Ashok Dinda and Sudeep Tyagi. This seems to be more of an exercise to give them a feel of the Indian squad - a close view of how the players prepare and time to pick the minds of the seniors in the squad.

Nagpur and Mohali are the two venues and it does not matter how the pitch behaves - 40 overs is too less to figure out any changes of the character of the pitch.

MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma will vie for the batting slots (7 of them). It will be a good option if Dhoni steps down for one match so that he can rest himself before the ODI series start. If not, Dinesh Karthik might be the person to lose out.

Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Sreesanth, Ashok Dinda, Sudeep Tyagi, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha are the bowlers who will compete for 4 slots. The 3 who might be rested for the first match might be Ashish Nehra (for his poor fielding skills), Ashok Dinda, Sudeep Tyagi.