The final in Mumbai on Saturday is the first time two Asian nations meet in a cricket World Cup final and it will see a straight contest between the world’s best batsman and best bowler of all time – Sachin Tendulkar (18,093 ODI runs) versus Muttiah Muralitharan (534 ODI wickets). And also, in all probability, it will be the last World Cup for both. Winning the World Cup has been a lifelong dream for India’s Sachin, who is also waiting for his hundredth international ton.
India were dealt a blow ahead of Saturday’s final with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni saying that pacer Ashish Nehra is “most likely” out of the match due to a fractured right-hand finger. But opener Gautam Gambhir, who left the field during Pakistan’s innings due to a hamstring problem, is expected to be fit for the final.
Meanwhile, the World Cup final has created a thriving black market with tickets selling for as much as $10,000 each. The face value of the tickets in the Sachin Tendulkar Stand is 15,000 rupees while the cheapest seat for the match at the 33,442-seat stadium was listed at 1,100 rupees, in a country where the average monthly income is about 3,000 rupees.
Teams
Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Chamara Silva, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Lasith Malinga, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Suraj Randiv/Rangana Herath.
India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Suresh Raina, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Sreesanth/Ashwin, 11 Munaf Patel.
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