India v. Sri Lanka, Second Test kicks off

Right. So, Ishant Sharma and Mishra are the victims of the call for bowler's heads to roll. Ojha and Sreesanth are the lucky entrants. I won't pretend to be too knowledgeable about Ojha's recent form but as far as Sreesanth goes, he's lucky to be in there. Not that I mind excessively; Sharma has been as blunt as a roadside barber's razor for a while. But Mishra's dropping is painful. He bowled on a dead pitch and his captain didn't know how to set fields for him. Not a very good way to groom a young leggie. But hopefully the Gavaskar-Shastri combine in the comms box will be pleased with this particular pound of flesh.

Sri Lanka have dumped a quick (Prasad) and brought in Mendis. Three spinners is a lot, even in India, and in a strange way, its an acknowledgment of the first test mistake and a selection forced by injury

India win the toss and bat. Here we go, with a single off the first ball.

On to the Compaq Cup final

Right. So we have a one-day final tomorrow. The Compaq Cup (which features a pretty digital trophy, like totally 21st century, if you know what I mean).

India have a chance to do two things: take back the No. 1 spot, which they held for some 24 hours (at least, I think they get it back, but I'm not sure), and more to the point, they have a chance to try and get over the "finals jinx", because they have this really bad habit of losing in anything that ends with the word "Final."

Sri Lanka have the chance to just continue smacking India around the Park like they did on Saturday (can someone confirm if that was the same pitch on which India clobbered New Zealand? I'm serious).

Despite all my recent snarkiness about the one-day game, I'm genuinely interested in this game. I would like to see: Tendulkar and Dravid bat; the Indian trio of Nehra/RP Singh/Sharma fire; Dilshan/Jaya/Sanga batting; Mendis/Malinga bowling. I still like ODIs when the stakes are "high." This isn't a big deal as far as tournaments go, but there is always some national pride at stake. And importantly, Sri Lanka is playing at home, so the atmosphere should be have a crackle and pop to it. The one-day final, with a big crowd behind it, is still a marquee international cricket event. Fingers crossed, we'll get a good game.

Oh, and the times are good. The games start at 5 AM, and thanks to a pesky back injury, I haven't had any trouble waking up then!