NEW DELHI: India captain MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Thursday.
The Indians are smarting from the humiliating loss on Tuesday. They did try to experiment with the team's composition in that dress rehearsal match and suffered. Now, as the momentum has shifted towards the Lankans, MS Dhoni's men will try to make amends and take home the trophy which has stayed away from their hands for 15 years now.
Harbhajan Singh, hero of the win against Pakistan, is back in the team along with pacer Ashish Nehra to bolster the bowling attack led by Zaheer Khan.
As for India batting, Dinesh Karthik, who has come in for injured Virender Sehwag, will open with Gautam Gambhir who is expected to once provide the foundation for the later batsmen to capitalise upon.
Sri Lanka, who won the last two editions of the region's top one-day prize, in 2006 and 2008, are buoyant after thrashing India by seven wickets in a league match on Tuesday.
Their batsmen have been in great nick and opener Tillakaratne Dilshan has been in roaring form. Sangakkara himself, along with Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews, looks in touch while Upul Tharanga and Chamara Kapugedara have also been among the runs.
Their bowling unit is arguably better than India with Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara and left-arm fast bowler Chanaka Welegedara having already made their mark in the tournament.
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