Less than a day after pulling off an excellent win over South Africa in the World T20 semi-finals here, India were back to the ground gearing up for the summit clash against Sri Lanka
Mahela Jayawardene
Dhaka: Less than a day after pulling off an excellent win over South Africa in the World T20 semi-finals here, India were back to the ground gearing up for the summit clash against Sri Lanka.
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Mahela Jayawardene
And although MS Dhoni's men restricted their hour-and-a-half long session to only playing football, the mood in the camp was relaxed. Yuvraj Singh was the only batsman who knocked around a few balls in front of the pavilion after the team was done with their football.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka put in the hard yards and undertook an extended session of batting, bowling and fielding.
They are desperate to break the jinx of losing in the finals of an ICC event year-after-year and the game assumes greater significance for the fact that two of their greatest batsmen — Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene — are featuring in their last T20 game.
Jayawardene told mid-day: "I am absolutely relaxed and not taking any pressure."
Captain's delight
Meanwhile, people at the ground were surprised to see Lasith Malinga walk out for the customary photo shoot ahead of the final instead of skipper Dinesh Chandimal.
It may be recalled that the latter opted out of the semi-final against the West Indies. Nevertheless, Malinga said Chandimal is likely to play against India. The bowler also said that it was an honour to lead a team consisting Jayawardene and Sangakkara.
Already a legend
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is delighted at India's performance and Virat Kohli's progress. He said: "We are showing great resilience in every match and that augurs well." Speaking about Kohli, Ganguly observed: "Except for Sachin Tendulkar, I have not seen anyone flourish in such a short time."
On the other hand, former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu believes Kohli is already a legend. He said: "Virat is already a legend. Not only has he reached 5000 ODI runs but 20 centuries as well at such a young age."