Sachyameva Jayate
Indian captain M.S. Dhoni and Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara pose with the World Cup 2011 trophy in Mumbai
Two teams. Two champions. Sachin and Tendulkar and Muttiah Muralitharan. In the end, after sinew has been stretched and the will tested, one will prevail.
The moment of truth is here.
As India and Sri Lanka went through their paces ahead of the 2011 World Cup final here on Saturday, injury woes had skippers Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara frowning on match eve.
Ashish Nehra and Gautam Gambhir on the Indian side and Muttiah Muralitharan and Angelo Mathews for the Sri Lankans were on the hurt list as of Friday morning but neither captain was willing to take a final call on the players with less than 24 hours to go for the big game.
Nehra fractured the middle finger of his right hand while going for a low and hard chance off Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi in the Mohali semi-final and Gambhir did not come out to field at all with a sore leg.
On the Sri Lankan side, Murali is carrying knee and quadriceps injuries while Mathew hurt himself while fielding in the semi-final against New Zealand in Colombo. Sri Lanka have called up off-spinner Suraj Randiv and, surprisingly, veteran left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas as cover for the two, though Murali is almost certain to play.
“Chances are good that Murali will play,” Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss said. “He completed 10 overs in the semi-final, and such is the character of the man that he will play even with discomfort.”
On Vaas and Randiv, the coach added, “We have asked for them just to be on the safe side, but Muralitharan and Mathews will be given as long as possible to prove their fitness.” On Friday, neither captain was willing to commit on ruling out or including any of the four, but it is almost certain that Mathew and Nehra will sit out the final, even though the latter stayed on the field to bowl an additional three overs after he had hurt his hand and had it taped up.
Late on Friday, though, it was confirmed that Mathew would indeed stay on the bench after Sri Lanka included Randiv in their shortlist for the final, having received clearance from the ICC’s technical committee.
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