Team India in doldrums, Yuvraj Singh down with dengue

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Neeraj R Krish

16 August, 2010

TOUGH TIMES lie ahead for India as they now badly need to pull up their socks if they intend to stay in the ongoing Micromax cup tournament being played in Sri Lanka. India not only requires to win two of its remaining three matches but also needs a bonus point to stay in sync with New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

As per the latest match statistics, the Kiwi's have earned five points in two matches which also includes a bonus. Their net run rate stands at +1.684. Sri Lanka has earned 4 points from one game at +0.936 and India lies shamelessly behind at -4.00.

If India does not manage to win today's match against the Lankans they will most likely go out of the tournament. Today, India plays against Sri Lanka at the Rangiri Stadium, where the conditions are a bit tough as it rained on Sunday and dark clouds are still hovering over the pitch as well as Team India.

Meanwhile, in another setback one of the most flamboyant players of the team, Yuvraj Singh's exclusion will not be able to play the match as he is suffering from dengue. Singh is is considered to be one of the best batsmen in the one-day format of the game.

Lately, however, Singh's spate with controversies, bad form and injuries has raised a question mark over his value to the Indian team.

Speaking about his illness Team India's manager, Ranjib Biswal was quoted as saying that Yuvraj is out of danger as the symptoms were mild. Yuvraj is staying with the team and is expected to recover in the next 3-4 days, he added.

On the bowling front, left arm pacer, Ashish Nehra also seems to be doubtful in the third game as he is down with a strained glute. Dinesh Karthik's thumb injury seems to have receeded and pacer Ishant Sharma is also said to have recovered from the ankle strain.

The likely teams for the match are as follows:

India: M.S. Dhoni (Captain), V. Sehwag, D. Karthik, S. Raina, R. Sharma, V. Kohli, R. Ashwin, O. Ojha, P. Kumar, M. Patel, I. Sharma, A. Nehra, R. Jadeja, A. Mithun and S. Tiwary.

Sri Lanka: K. Sangakkara (captain), T. Dilshan, U. Tharanga, M. Jayawardene, T. Samaraweera, C. Kapugedera, A. Mathews, N. Kulasekara, L. Malinga, A. Mendis, S. Randiv, R. Herath, D. Fernando, T. Perera and C. Silva.