ICC World T20: India favourites going into the final

Everything to play for

Sri Lanka – a side led by make-shift captain, Lasith Malinga, will no doubt go into today’s final as the underdogs. But the ‘underdogs’ tag isn’t bad by any stretch of imagination, and more so when you’re coming up against an outfit that has blown away opponents with disdain and precision. From Sri Lanka’s perspective, they can go out there and just express themselves. As for India, they are sure to be the focal point of today’s final, and rightly so.

The road to the final for both these sides has been a pretty slick one. At the start of the main tournament, people looked at Australia and West Indies being potential contenders for winning this edition of the World T20, but cricket – a game of glorious uncertainties, has once again vindicated the fact that irrespective of the firepower you possess, it’s the performance on the pitch that carries you for the length of the tournament.

Barring the blip against the English, Sri Lanka have been good value in reaching the finals for the 3rd time in the history of the tournament. They have played like a unit, and been unreliable on individuals to carry them through. Albeit Dinesh Chandimal stepping down from captaincy was a bit strange, Malinga has stepped into his shoes, and done a good job. His 1st spell against the West Indies in the semifinals was massive to Sri Lanka pulling off the win by D/L method, and overall he has looked composed under the radar.

Angelo Mathews has been consistent with the bat in the middle order for Sri Lanka, and Senanayake has been rather economical whenever he has bowled. Not to forget Rangana Herath’s magical bowling spell of 5-3 against New Zealand that rescued the Sri Lankans from a perilous situation after being bowled out for 119.

Going into the finals, Sri Lanka will know that they are coming up against a side that has cantered to victories right throughout the tournament, and are odds-on favourites to clinch the title. But Sri Lanka is the kind of team that can give India and Dhoni a run for their money. Sri Lankans are good players of spin, and in Herath and Senanayake, they have spinners, who can curb the free-scoring Indian batsmen from dictating terms to them.

From a spectator’s perspective, it’s going to be fun to see what Sri Lanka do, if they win the toss. Team India have made light work of whatever they’ve been asked to do, or have done after winning the toss, so it’s up to Sri Lanka and Malinga to decide how they are going to approach this.

On paper, and from the cricketing world’s perspective, Team India are odds-on favourites to thump their neighbours once again in a world tournament final.

The big question: can the ‘underdogs’ give us a gripping contest to remember?