This week In Cricket(11/8/2008 - 17/8/2008)

India - Srilanka 3rd test

As expected, India did not score enough runs in their 2nd inning to make it tough for Srilanka. Main difference in the series was Mendis to state the obvious; he just did no let Indian middle and lower orders flourish in any of the matches.

England - SA 4th test

As usual, England performed well in last match of a dead rubber. I am not sure what works for them in these scenarios: less pressure or it takes time to adjust to opposition and conditions. KP, as expected, (based on his fairytale career do far) started spectacularly on captaincy front. His masterstroke was to get Harmison back in England setup and provide him with all the confidence by allowing him to bowl with the new ball.

Champion Trophy

It will be interesting to see how other teams tackle Mendis in Champions Trophy ; at this time, there are serious doubts about this event happening at full strength in Pakistan.

Indian team for Srilanka one day series

Virat Kohli was a surprise selection, considering that he has not done all that well in IPL and subsequent emerging teams series in Australia. Pitches are expected to low and slow in Srilanka; 270-280 seem to be on par score a this point of time. My concern is that every time India will have to bat around 1.5 times better than Srilanka to negate Mendis factor.

My prediction: 4-1 Srilanka.

England - SA T20

This is just a festival match before the one day series.