India In Srilanka 2012

Sri Lanka series chance to assess team - Dhoni

India captain MS Dhoni has said that the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka will help his team assess where they stand at the moment.

"It's the start of the season for us," Dhoni said on Wednesday, shortly after India had arrived in Colombo for the five ODIs and one-off Twenty20 against Sri Lanka. "There are certain areas where we've wanted to improve, where we've had a discussion saying these are the areas where we need to improve upon to consistently do well … This is a nice occasion to test how much we have improved and how much further we can actually improve on the field."

India are coming off a month-and-a-half long break and looked keen to get back into action, heading for a practice session at the R Premadasa Stadium soon after checking in to their hotel. "Today we landed over here, and we were on the field close to 4.30 pm," Dhoni said. "The good thing is the energy level is up, which means we can put in a bit more effort in the physical department and do a bit more active sports work."

He said India will not be thinking too much about getting a feel of the conditions ahead the World Twenty20, which will be played in Sri Lanka in September, during this series. "What's important is to be in the present, which means take this series into account not to think too much ahead about the World Twenty20. A good thing is most of the players who are part of this side will also be part of the Twenty20 side. We don't really need to think ahead of time."

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, need to build on their one-day and Test triumphs against Pakistan, according to captain Mahela Jayawardene. "We have just finished a series against Pakistan successfully and what is important is to continue with the good work," Jayawardene said. "We have to work hard to reach the goals we want to attain.

"It's a good opportunity against India. We need to take the team forward. We have brought in a few new players for the one-day side, and we have to think about the World Twenty20 and which of these players will be suitable for that competition."

The series, which begins in Hambantota on Saturday, will not feature the Decision Review System (DRS). Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said this was since India, as has been their stance all through, did not want the system in place. "As per the ICC guidelines, both teams have got to agree in having the DRS," Ranatunga said. "As far as the Indian board is concerned they are not in favour of that. That was a decision taken at ICC level."

Both teams will leave for Hambantota on Thursday.

Arjuna Award will be a great honour, says Yuvraj Singh

BCCI to nominate Dravid for Khel Ratna, Yuvi for Arjuna

Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh hopes to be second time lucky after being nominated for the Arjuna Award.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday recommended names of Yuvraj and batting great Rahul Dravid for Arjuna and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards respectively.

"It will be an honour if I get the award. I didn't get it last time around so I hope I get it this time," Yuvraj, who has successfully recovered from a rare germ cell caner, told reporters at the launch of his cancer foundation YouWeCan.

Yuvraj was also nominated for the Arjuna Award in 2007 when Dravid was considered for the Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour.

The BCCI nominated Yuvraj for the prestigious sports award considering his man of the series performance at the 2011 World Cup.

Sri Lanka v Pakistan, 2nd Test, SSC, Colombo, 3rd day

Sri Lanka 70 for 1 (Dilshan 46*, Junaid 1-22) trail Pakistan 551 for 6 dec. (Hafeez 196, Ali 157, Misbah 66*, Herath 3-165) by 481 runs

Afternoon showers on day three put an outright result in serious doubt as only one session could be played out. In that session, Pakistan added 63 to their overnight 488 before declaring. In the next 70 minutes, Sri Lanka were put through a sterner test than the Pakistan openers, but they lost just one wicket.

Pakistan's quicks generated more response from the pitch than their Sri Lankan counterparts, but that didn't translate into too much success as Tillakaratne Dilshan rode his luck. An overnight declaration on 488 was a consideration because of the weather: 45 overs had already been lost on day two, and forecast for the rest of the Test wasn't the brightest either. However, Pakistan went for the scoreboard pressure, and declared only after they reached 550.

Pakistan didn't meander aimlessly, though: Misbah-ul-Haq went at a strike-rate of 82.50, much higher than his ODI career statistic, and Abdur Rehman hit two straight sixes in his 18 off 13. It took Pakistan little under an hour, and 12.4 overs, to score the 63 runs that took them past 550. In the process Misbah reached his 17th half-century, scoring 37 off 40 balls on the third morning. The fields were spread far out so he had to rely more on well-placed ones and twos as opposed to boundaries. Asad Shafiq and Adnan Akmal perished for the cause, but Rehman provided the required thrust with sixes off both spinners. Rangana Herath bowled one over fewer than a whole ODI innings.

Ten minutes later, with runs on board already, Pakistan made a spirited start with the ball. Aizaz Cheema and Junaid Khan bowled faster and hit the seam more often than the Sri Lankan bowlers. As a result, they bowled more threatening deliveries in one spell than Sri Lanka did in the whole innings. Cheema began with a short-of-a-length delivery that reared towards Tharanga Paranavitana's chest. Paranavitana never settled in, and was caught bat-pad to a Junaid delivery that seamed in. This was Paranavitana's seventh duck in his 28th Test, a high rate for a Test opener.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, at the other end, tried every trick in the book to get out, but the pitch and luck smiled on him benevolently. The seam movement in Junaid's first over seemed to have rattled him, and he hoicked at the last ball of that over; the leading edge fell straight of mid-on. Until lunch, Dilshan kept slashing and flashing, twice edging short of the cordon, once bisecting keeper and first slip. In Saeed Ajmal's first over, minutes before lunch, he survived a desperately close lbw shout when he was hit just above the knee roll bang in front and inside the crease. However, nothing stopped the aggressive Dilshan: he followed that lbw shout with two lofted fours, a response not too different to the rest of his innings. By lunch he had raced along to 46 off 54.

Kumar Sangakkara was much more reassuring for Sri Lanka, clipping the first ball he faced for four, and continuing to do so. The only moment of concern at Sangakkara's end arrived when he got a thick inside edge onto his pad, but it was too meaty for Azhar Ali at short leg to react in time.