Dhoni declared fit for Kanpur Test

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Indian captain MS Dhoni has been declared fit to play the second Test against Sri Lanka in Kanpur starting today (Tuesday).

Sri Lanka started brilliantly in the first Test but were thwarted first by Rahul Dravid and then the pitch in Ahmedabad. Momentum is an over-rated word, though, and both teams will start afresh in Kanpur, according to website cricinfo.
Experts reckoned that both captains were a little too defensive in the first Test and allowed the batsmen to dictate terms with easy singles. The main reason for that was perhaps the docile pitch but both teams will know that they must up their game if they are to go past South Africa and claim the No. 1 Test spot.
Both teams had a few problems in the spin department: Sri Lanka went in with Rangana Herath, who was outstanding in the home series against Pakistan, but he couldn't do much damage here. Muttiah Muralitharan too wasn't at his best but Sri Lanka will still consider him as their first-choice spinner. Ajantha Mendis is likely to replace Herath as he is quicker through the air and the faster spinners have been more effective on Indian tracks.
For India, Harbhajan Singh is yet to recapture the form he showed on the tour of New Zealand, where he was at the top of his game. The usually skillful Amit Mishra had a poor game, struggling for control and looking out of sorts. Will India see it as a one-off bad game and trust Mishra with another? While Herath and Mishra didn't perform well the onus, though, would be on the senior spinners, Muralitharan and Harbhajan, to show the way.
There were concerns over the fitness of MS Dhoni but he has been cleared to play. The question mark now hangs over the second spinner, but Mishra is likely to be retained. Considering how Mishra struggled due to lack of match practice, India might also retain Ishant, ahead of Sreesanth who last played for India 19 months ago. Not that Ishant did well - but not many bowlers did on that placid track.
India: 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Amit Mishra.
Sri Lanka: 1 Tharanga Paranavitana, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8 Nuwan Kulasekara/Dilhara Fernando, 9 Chanaka Welegedara, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Ajantha Mendis/Rangana Herath.