Team news

Dinesh Karthik will take Dhoni's place, while Virat Kohli, despit e a sprightly 54 in the last game, will have to make way if Yuvraj recovers fully. There could also be a rejigging of the pace attack, with Zaheer and Ashish Nehra both far more comfortable with the old ball. Praveen Kumar lacks the pace to hustle batsmen early on, especially in conditions where there's little or no movement, and that could see Ishant Sharma take his place.

India: (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag (capt), 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Yuvraj Singh/Virat Kohli, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Given their injury concerns, it's hard to predict Sri Lanka's line-up. But Mathews' absence does pave the way for Sanath Jayasuriya's return, especially in low and slow conditions where his left-arm spin could be a big factor. Suranga Lakmal didn't impress much on debut, and there could be a recall for Nuwan Kulasekara. The big plus though would be Malinga's return. In Fernando's absence, Sri Lanka have lacked a bowler who can hurry the batsmen.

Sri Lanka: (probable) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilina Kandamby, 6 Sanath Jayasuriya, 7 Suraj Randiv, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara/Suranga Lakmal, 9 Ajantha Mendis, 10 Chanaka Welegedara, 11 Lasith Malinga.

Pitch and conditions

A bright, sunny day is predicted, and it won't be excessively cold at night either. Teams only one score in excess of 300, and the conditions could make for a tight game with moderate scores rather than Rajkot-like ones.