West Indies tri-series 2013 final: India vs Sri Lanka - Five players to watch out for

India have regained most of the that self-belief with which they came to the Caribbean after a glorious victory at the Champions Trophy. They have had a two-part campaign: the first part in Jamaica was tarnished by an injury to captain MS Dhoni and the humiliating defeat to Sri Lanka, whereas the second half at Port of Spain has seen the team bounce back with a vengeance.

India have the momentum on their side with two back-to-back victories going into the final, and they will be smacking their lips for another piece of silverware when they have a look at their record against Sri Lanka in consequential matches.

It remains to be seen if MS Dhoni features in the final after having recovered from his hamstring injury, but the odds are that Virat Kohli will captain the side in the final. The 24-year-old lad from Delhi has led the side admirably in the absence of MS Dhoni and it was his century that redeemed India’s campaign. He will be hoping to taste his first success as captain at Port of Spain.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have had to work hard to get to the final. They had to play two consecutive rain-interrupted matches, one of which went into the reserve day. That effort would have expended a lot of their energy, but nothing invigorates more than the possibility of revenge. The Lankan lions were ousted from the Champions Trophy semi-finals by India, and the World Cup final loss would still be fresh in their memory. They would like to win this series to give captain Angelo Matthews his first major success.

Here is a list of five players who will play a critical role when the final is played at Port of Spain:

5. Rohit Sharma

The right-handed opener played a crucial knock in the previous rain-interrupted game. He has been India’s highest run-getter in the series so far and averages over 50.00. While the runs have come handy, his inability to convert those half-centuries into centuries remains very frustrating.

He will have yet another opportunity to mend that flaw in the final and he does not need to do much. He just needs to limit the range of his shots so that he does not play an unnecessary expansive shot, throwing away his wicket in a critical situation. He will have enough time to settle down to get his share of runs due to the able support he will receive from his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan, who escalates the run rate at the head of the innings.