World Cup finalists have plenty to prove

Perth: When nothing seems to going the right way, India will look to get their One Day International tri-series campaign on track when they clash with Sri Lanka today. The two teams are meeting for the first time since the 2011 World Cup final.

It is the batting that has let down India in the Test series and the first one-dayer against Australia. But the match against Sri Lanka's relatively weaker bowling attack gives the Indian batsmen an opportunity to bounce back. In the first ODI, captain M.S. Dhoni chose to play three spinners but the composition of the bowling attack is expected to change after the ploy backfired.

Going by the reputation of the WACA pitch as one conducive to pace bowling, India would consider the experienced of Zaheer Khan and the raw pace of Umesh Yadav. In order to accommodate the two speedsters, either R. Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja may sit out.

Sehwag factor

In the first match, India missed a trick by resting Virender Sehwag but the dashing opener is confident of playing in the second game. Sehwag would have to come in at the expense of Gautam Gambhir or Sachin Tendulkar.

India must be hurting from last month's visit to Perth where they lost the third Test against Australia in two and a half days, but this time around they would like to reverse the result at this venue.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka is also going through a tough phase be it a change of captain, non-payment issues and reports of internal strife among the players. But as a team they haven't played that badly with some youngsters making their presence felt.

Sri Lanka would like to forget the first ODI against South Africa where chasing a target of 301 they were bundled out for 43 in 20 overs. But in the last two matches of the five-match series, the Lankans bounced back to chase down scores of around 300 to restore pride.

The team's resurgence against South Africa was possible because of Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne and Thisara Perera.

Going by recent performances of both teams, Sri Lanka have an upper hand and India would not make the mistake of taking them lightly as opponents.

Squads

• Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Angelo Matthews, Kumar Sangakkara, Tilllakaratne Dilshan, Fervez Mehroof, Lasith Malinga, Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Sachitra Senanayke, Lahiru Thirimanne, Upul Tharanga, Chanaka Welegedara, Dhamika Prasad, Thilan Samraweera, Rangana Herath and Nuwan Kulasekara.
• India: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Umesh Yadav, Rahul Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Manoj Tiwary, Irfan Pathan.