According to a report published in The Times Of India, Eden Gardens in Kolkata is ready to take up another great match between India and Sri Lanka in the ongoing three-match ODI series. In the meantime, Rahul Dravid the coach of team India achieved another milestone on Wednesday. He celebrated his fiftieth birthday. But it is being said that he is waiting to give his birthday celebrations a more perfect finish by helping India to win the second ODI game against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The fans and the cricket fraternity in India are very excited about this match. They are saying this is a perfect start to the year as India prepares the home ground for the upcoming fifty-over World Cup later this year alongside a mammoth total of three hundred and seventy-three in the first game in Guwahati. The previous match was indeed a great game for India as the top eight batsmen of the Indian team had maintained a striking rate of more than a hundred percent during an inning. But also there is an alert to the team on the sidelines. In the final nine overs of the game India was able to add only seventy runs and so they were unable to reach the four-hundred range mark.
If you look at the records you shall see that team India is in the fourth rank while Sri Lanka is in the eighth position in the world according to the latest ICC ODI rankings. India has ninety-four wins to their credit while Sri Lanka is basking in the glory of fifty-seven great wins. So, both the teams being very strong it is expected that once again the crowd shall witness a great match. As Eden Gardens is a very favorite ground of team India and also for its coach Rahul Dravid, India is looking for closing today’s game with a win and take a 2-0 lead in this three-match series.
The management of team India in the meanwhile has taken some important decisions. They had put on bench Surya Kumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan despite both being in peak form now. And even backed Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma amidst all criticisms who had also proved the critics wrong with a blazing partnership of a hundred and forty-three runs in the previous game. The manner in which these two players took up the responsibility of giving team India a stable start in the previous game had won the applause of the management.
Things are looking very good for team India in this match too as Virat Kohli made centuries in the last two games and is in great form now. Even Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul too contributed well to the game which promises another great game is about to take place this time at Eden Gardens. The outfield of Eden is quick and there shall be great contact with the ball and bat. The bowling unit too is in an aggressive form. The Sri Lankan team has got a lot of homework to do before meeting team India for the second ODI game.