West Indies tri-series 2013: WI vs Sri Lanka - Players to watch out for

Hosts West Indies take on Sri Lanka in the opening game of the tri-series, which involves India too

West Indies and Sri Lanka will kick off the triangular tournament today at Sabina Park. The match will be an excellent opportunity for the two teams to make a head-start in the competition as the fixtures against Champions Trophy winners India are unlikely to be easy. India are favorites to make the final in spite of being in unfamiliar West Indian conditions, given their form and strength on paper. In such a situation, West Indies would want to exploit the conditions when Sri Lanka are least acclimatized.

West Indies bowed out of the Champions Trophy because of a rain-interrupted match against South Africa which was a little unfortunate. West Indies’ coach Ottis Gibson gave a statement of intent ahead of this series.

Talking about the clash against Sri Lanka, he said, “It’s to put those little mistakes that we made in England away. We felt we had a good opportunity to win that tournament and we want to win this one and prove ourselves right.” West Indies named a 13 man squad for the series with only two major changes to the squad that traveled to the Champions trophy. Ramnaresh Sarwan was excluded after a dismal outing and Jason Holder was left out too after not getting a single game in the Champions Trophy.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had a bittersweet campaign. They fought hard to get to the semifinals but bowed out to eventual champions India there. Under the leadership of Angelo Matthews, Sri Lanka are making a rare visit to the Caribbean. They will have high hopes for themselves and will be especially concerned about the performance of the new talent that they have in their squad.

Here is a list of five players who can make a significant contribution to the result of the opening match:

5. Upul Tharanga

Upul Tharanga

The left-handed batsman makes a return to the side due to the absence of Tillakaratne Dilshan. Dilshan suffered a calf-injury in the semifinal match of the Champions Trophy against India and is now nursing the injury. Tharanga is on the verge of a personal milestone as another 46 runs will mean that he joins an elite club of Sri Lankan players who have 5,000 runs to their name. He will be opening the batting with Kusal Perera and a good start upfront will set up the match for Sri Lanka with the experience of Jayawardene and Sangakkara to follow.

4. Kemar Roach

Kemar Roach

The fast bowler had a mixed bag of a performance at the Champions Trophy. He grabbed the eyeballs with his match winning performance against Pakistan but was thrashed all around the park by the Indian batsmen. He should definitely be picked ahead of Tino Best as a part of the two man pace attack alongside Ravi Rampaul. He has the pace to trouble the Sri Lankan batsmen upfront, but he might not find a lot in the pitch to work on. He received some high words of praise from West Indian legend Clive Lloyd a few days back, and that should be a great encouragement for him ahead of the match.

3. Mahela Jayawardene

Mahela Jayawardene

The right-handed batsmen bailed out Sri Lanka on a number of occasions in the Champions Trophy. He will have to continue to do that job as the young talent around him earns some valuable experience. The likes of Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal have shown promise but have not delivered at the big stage. They need to take a leaf out of Jayawardene’s book who has shown immense psychological strength in tight match situations. The slow wickets of West Indies will suit his batting style.

2. Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle

The explosive left-handed batsman has only been able to threaten in the past few matches for the national side. West Indies will be hoping that he can unleash a knock of the kind that we are used to seeing from him in the IPL. He tried to control his natural instincts in the Champions Trophy but capitulated after getting some promising starts. He might unleash himself from the very first ball in this game, and that might not be good news for the Lankan lions.

1. Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine

The mystery spinner is a major threat in home conditions. He had a quiet Champions trophy campaign, but wasn’t expensive. With the number of variations that he has in his bag, it will be interesting to see if the Sri Lankan batsmen are able to pick him. Dwayne Bravo will use him as an attacking option in order to get wickets at critical moments in the game. It is one thing to be able to negotiate him and completely another to be able to score off him. If West Indies can put runs on the board, the threat that he poses will be doubled.