India in Sri Lanka -- Test Series

Now that the Soccer World Cup is over, I hope some people in India who were supporting some unknown countries will now support their own country in the coming rubber against the Sri Lankans. The rubber seems to be an interesting one, not only because of the ICC rankings at stake, but also a look at our Pied Piper of Punjab 'Yuvraj Singh'. Yuvraj was dropped from the Asia Cup & has been given a lifeline to cement his place in the Test XI. By the time this article is published we will come to know who is the new replacement of Sreesanth, who has an injured knee which rules him out of the series. What this means is Abhimanyu Mithun is almost certain to make his Test Debut at Galle. If Yuvraj Singh gets a handful of runs in this series it would be a good confidence booster for the champion batsman, specially with the amount of Cricket India will play before the world Cup. On the other hand if he has an average series, Cheteshwar Pujara might get a look in.
What worries me is India's depleted bowling ammunation. Zaheer's treating his shoulder in South Africa & now Sreesanth is taking the flight back home. Only Father time will tell whether it is RP Singh or Ashok Dinda who fly out as a cover to Sreesanth.
The first Test match also assumes much significance as it would the final Test match for the Champion offie Muttiah Muralitharan who would be eying for a perfect test match with a win not only for his country but also for a near perfect 800 test sticks. While the earlier Test Series was dominated by the two formidable M & Ms (Murali & Mendis), this time India's famed middle order can breathe a sigh of relief as Murali the magician would play only the first test. There is a school of thought that would say there is an overkill between India v Sri Lanka, but nevertheless it is going to be an important series specially for some of our talented cricketers.