India were dealt with a big blow ahead of the first Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka with in-form speedster S Sreesanth rendered a doubtful starter for tomorrow's encounter which promises to be a high-scoring affair.
Sreesanth skipped the practice session today because of diarrhea and it appears that the temperamental Kerala pacer will have to wait for some more time before returning to the T20 arena.
"He is not well. We are hoping he will get well before the game," India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
"I don't know the exact scene right now. The physio (Nitin Patel) told me he was not well, may be diarrhea or something," he said.
Sreesanth's unavaibility could mean a debut for either Bengal paceman Ashok Dinda or fellow Uttar Pradesh pacer Sudeep Tyagi though the team management has given no indication regarding the composition of the team.
Having crowned themselves the number one team in Test rankings, India would look to assert their supremacy in the shortest format as well when they go into the first game.
India have made a few changes in their squad, resting pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and calling up youngsters Dinda and R Ashwin.
With Test specialists Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman not considered any more for the limited-over clashes, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan and Rohit Sharma would shore up the middle-order along with Yuvraj Singh and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Starting with Virender Sehwag, India have such an array of stroke-players who can simply whip the bowlers around and cart them for sixes and fours with ease and the batting gives the hosts a clear edge.
Dhoni is a trifle worried about how his bowlers will shift to the T20 mode after playing the three-match Test series.
"Though the bowlers need to roll their arm for only four overs, an enormous effort is involved to do so in the T20 format as the batsmen would go after them from ball one, especially on Indian pitches, he said.
"Considering we are playing in India, it would be a bit different for the bowlers, as the batsmen would go after them from the very first ball. It looks to be a small game, just four overs, but the amount of effort that's needed, that's what it is all about", he explained.
The Lanka bowlers would need to come out with something innovative to restrict the hosts' batting line-up and put a stop to their losing streak on the tour.
The tourists have brought in right-arm sling-action bowler Lasith Malinga, who missed the Test series because of an injury, to strengthen their pace bowling attack which was exposed thoroughly in the Test series. (Eds pick up suitably from SPORT SL series). PTI
