Dress rehearsal before Asia Cup final

DAMBULLA: Sri Lanka are fast turning out to be India's nemesis in big tournaments, whether it is at the 2007 World Cup, the 2008 Asia Cup final in Karachi or this year's World T20 in the West Indies. On all these occasions, they have produced something special to wreck Indian dreams. 

This time too, India will take on the Lankans in the Asia Cup final but before that there is a dress rehearsal between the two teams on Tuesday. All eyes will be on MS Dhoni's men and whether they cope with the pressure against a team which is tough to beat at home. 

For India, everything has gone according to plan so far. A comprehensive win over Bangladesh was followed by a cliffhanger of a victory against Pakistan, and now if they can beat the Lankans on Tuesday they will be definite favourites going into the final. 

In a big blow, though, vice-captain Virender Sehwag has been ruled out of the tournament. His replacement Dinesh Karthik reached Sri Lanka on Monday morning and headed straight for the nets, having an extended session with the team. 

Earlier, the team management had not entirely ruled Sehwag out but they sent an SOS back home on Sunday after it emerged that the batsman was unlikely to participate further. The Men in Blue will now have to cope with his absence. Sehwag's fellow opener Gautam Gambhir, though, has been among the runs, playing match-winning knocks against Bangladesh and Pakistan. 

In the absence of Yuvraj Singh, it will be a good chance for youngsters like Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja to step forward and make some runs. The fielding too looks up to the mark. 

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