India to take on Sri lanka in champions trophy semi final

Cardiff: Unbeaten so far, a confident India would be up against a massive challenge when they take on sub-continental rivals Sri Lanka, a team on the ascendancy after a slow start, in the semifinal match of the ICC Champions Trophy on Thursday.

India will be the fancied team on paper but the Lankans are also on a high after defeating both England and Australia en route to the semifinal, which would be a repeat of the 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai.

While India were the first team to make the last four from the tournament’s Group of Death with an all-win record, Sri Lanka grabbed the last semifinal berth on Tuesday after warding off a late challenge from Australia.
For the Lankans, the clash against India will be a grudge game of sorts. In the final of the 2011 World Cup at the Wankhede, India outclassed the co-hosts by six wickets, easily chasing down a 275-run target, with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni laying the coup de grace with a towering six off Nuwan Kulasekara.

For India, only Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina are the remnants of the victorious World Cup squad and the arrival of a set of precocious youths like Ravindra Jadeja and Shikhar Dhawan has had a telling impact on the overall team performance, especially fielding.