Indian batsman Virender Sehwag returns from injury to start the second ODI against Sri Lanka.
Indian opener returns for second ODI against Sri Lanka
India have been boosted by the news that batsman Virender Sehwag will return to the side for the second one-day-international against Sri Lanka.
Sehwag missed the first contest of the five-match series with an injured back. The opener has played in 196 one-dayers for his country, scoring over 6000 runs in the process.
"He is fit. He made way for a batsman in the first game and a batsman will miss out here," Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni confirmed
India are currently 1-0 up in the series after taking a six wicket victory in Dambulla. However, Dhoni believes there is room for improvement.
Work
"There are areas we need to work on. There is a scope for improvement, but a good sign is we are not relying on any individual to win matches," he added.
"If one of our top four batsmen can stay at the crease till the end it will be good for others as their spinners are good and can make it tough for new batsmen.
"I think chasing anything over 250 will be difficult if the wicket behaves like it did the last time."
Opposing captain Mahela Jayawardene was upbeat about his side's performance in the first meeting, admitting he was content merely to compete with an in-form Indian team.
Happy
"I think they bowled pretty well. It was just that we did not put enough pressure on their batsmen. India did not have to take any risks," he said.
"I am also quite happy with our batting effort. We have been getting high scores in the last few games, with the top-order batsmen among runs.
"We'll try to keep India under pressure and there is no other motivation than to beat a side which is doing very well."
The match could see spinner Muttiah Muralitharan become the highest wicket-taker in ODI cricket. He needs only two more scalps to overhaul Wasim Akram's record of 502.
