Dambulla, July 29:

With a brand new team management comprising captain Rahul Dravid and coach Greg Chappell in place, India will strive to begin a new cricket season by winning the one-day triangular series beginning here on Saturday at Rangiri Dambulla Stadium. Although the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly will surely pinch India, there are enough reasons that provide the young side a note of confidence. The real challenge for India will be to overcome a confident Sri Lanka. Marvan Atapattu’s team has just completed a 2-0 Test series rout of the West Indies. India picked two new faces — all-rounder Suresh Raina and batsman Venugopal Rao while VVS Laxman has been recalled to bolster the batting. After his good performance in one-dayers against Pakistan at home in April, it looks like Mahendra Singh Dhoni will continue to open with Virender Sehwag, though talk is on that Laxman could well be made to open by the management. The rest of the batting positions are settled.

The bowling is in the experienced hands of left-armers Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and Ashish Nehra and the right-armer Lakshmipathy Balaji. But it will be crucial how the opponents tackle spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Recalled all-rounder Jai Prakash Yadav could handle the third pacer’s overs if the management wants to play both Kumble and Harbhajan.

Without doubt, Sri Lanka will be the team to beat as they go into the seven-match tournament with enough match practice, while Indians are fresh after a long layoff barring Pathan and Harbhajan, who played in the English county season. Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will be the most dangerous Sri Lankan. With 549 Test wickets and 369 one-day international scalps in his kitty, Muralitharan is set to test the skills and patience of the likes of Dravid, Sehwag and Laxman.