New Delhi: Unsettled India will hope to answer many questions when they face visiting Sri Lanka in a tough seven-match one-day series starting from Tuesday.
Poor form of the men in blue and their one-day ranking of seventh make for a difficult job against a side placed only behind champions Australia and eager to shine on their first Indian trip since 1999.
Indian cricket is passing through a turbulent phase.
Their most successful test captain Saurav Ganguly was sacked 10 days ago after a five-year tenure following a major spat with coach Greg Chappell about his prolonged batting slump.
Ganguly has been left out of the team for the first two games due to an elbow injury.
India?s most consistent batsman, Rahul Dravid, who has taken over the hot seat from Ganguly, will have to guide a largely inexperienced side as well as anchor the innings.
Millions of cricket-crazy fans will focus on Sachin Tendulkar, one-day cricket?s most prolific batsman who is on a comeback after being sidelined for six months following surgery to rectify an elbow injury.
The 32-year-old is uncertain to bat at the top immediately on his return.
The job to open the innings has been assigned to the explosive Virender Sehwag, who has looked shaky with just two fifties in his last 20 innings, and youngster Gautam Gambir who is making his one-day comeback after nearly two-and-a-half years.
Indian selectors have surprisingly ignored wristy batsman Vangipurappu Laxman and one-day batsman Mohammad Kaif is out with a hamstring injury, depriving them of further batting depth.
India, who also host South Africa for a one-day series starting on November 16, will play three tests against Sri Lanka. They tour Pakistan in January and host England in March and April.
Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu?s team won all three clashes against India in a home tri-series in August.
On India?s batsmen-friendly pitches, they will pin their hopes on spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan and left-arm paceman Chaminda Vaas.
Muralitharan, 33 and the second highest test wicket-taker, needs only 14 scalps to become the third one-day bowler to reach the 400 mark.
Sri Lanka?s only concern is all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya.
The 36-year-old player?s recovery from a dislocated right shoulder suffered a setback a few days ago when he collided with the team physiotherapist during a water polo game.
He retired while batting in a warm-up game on Saturday but coach Tom Moody said that was only a precautionary step.
The first game will be played in Nagpur on Tuesday.
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