A billion hearts will beat for Sachin Tendulkar as India bid for their second World Cup title in the all-Asian final against buoyant Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Tendulkar returns to his home turf at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai determined to add the only silverware missing from the collection of the most celebrated cricketer of the modern era.
The Indian star, who turns 38 next month, holds almost all coveted batting records, but not even his individual brilliance could win the ultimate prize in a team sport like cricket.
In five previous appearances in cricket’s showpiece event, Tendulkar helped India reach the semifinal at home in 1996 and finish runners-up to Australia in 2003 in South Africa.
When India won the World Cup under Kapil Dev in 1983, Tendulkar was 10 years old, but five of his current team-mates - Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla and Munaf Patel - were not even born.
Playing in his sixth and possibly last World Cup, a record he shares with Pakistan great Javed Miandad, Tendulkar has led from the front to lift India into the final.
His 464 runs in the tournament are just three behind Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan’s 467, and he goes into the title clash one ton away from recording an unprecedented 100 international centuries.
Tendulkar’s lucky 85 in Wednesday’s semifinal against Pakistan, when he was dropped four times and survived close leg-before and stumping decisions, suggests he was destined to play the final.
“It will be a fantastic occasion,” Tendulkar said of the match in his home city. “We will focus on the job in hand and try to get the job done.”
Even the International Cricket Council will be delighted how the tournament has panned out.
“Can you imagine a fairytale ending with Tendulkar getting a hundred in the final and India wins at Wankhede which is his home ground?,” ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat had said last week.
The task ahead will not be easy against a supremely confident Sri Lanka, who have marched into their second successive final after losing just one match out of eight in the tournament.
Kumar Sangakkara’s men, playing at home in Colombo, thrashed England by 10 wickets in the quarter-final before delivering a five-wicket blow to New Zealand in the semifinal.
Sri Lanka, like India, are also seeking their second World Cup title after winning in 1996 when Arjuna Ranatunga’s team stunned Australia in the Pakistani city of Lahore.
Dilshan has led a power-packed display by the batsmen to become the tournament’s leading scorer, while Sangakkara has notched up 417 runs and young opener Upul Tharanga has made 393 runs.
World bowling record holder Muttiah Muralitharan, who will make his farewell international appearance on Saturday, has been his team’s most successful bowler with 15 wickets.
Sri Lanka enjoy a formidable bowling attack with sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga (11 wickets) and unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis (seven) complimenting off-spinner Muralitharan.
Indian seamer Zaheer Khan, who will also play on his home ground in Mumbai, goes into the final with 19 wickets, second behind Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi’s tally of 21.
Sri Lanka have prevailed in recent one-dayers against India, winning six of the 10 matches played last year in Dhaka, Harare, Bulawayo and Dambulla.
But India have won five of seven matches against the Islanders on home soil over the last five years.
India will be playing at the refurbished 33,000-capacity Wankhede stadium for the first time, while Sri Lanka know what awaits them having beaten New Zealand by 112 runs in a league matcha at the ground on March 18.
Teams
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel
Coach: Gary Kirsten (RSA)
Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Mahela Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath.
Coach: Trevor Bayliss (AUS)
Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS) and Aleem Dar (PAK)
TV umpire: Ian Gould (ENG)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
Match starts at 0900GMT
Pitch conditions: The well-rolled pitch with even bounce should provide entertaining cricket with both bat and ball. The match will begin in hot weather but the evening sea breeze will cool temperatures.
Head to head
Matches: 128
India wins: 67
Sri Lanka wins: 50
Tied/No result: 11
First meeting: June 16, 1979, Manchester - Sri Lanka won by 47 runs
Last meeting: August 28, 2010, Dambulla - Sri Lanka won by 74 runs
Paths to final
INDIA
Group stage
Feb 19
At Dhaka
India 370-4 (Virender Sehwag 175, Virat Kohli 100 not out) v Bangladesh 283-9 (Tamim Iqbal 70, Shakib Al Hasan 55; Munaf Patel 4-48).
India won by 87 runs
Feb 27
At Bangalore
India 338 (Sachin Tendulkar 120, Yuvraj Singh 58, Gautam Gambhir 51; Tim Bresnan 5-48) v England 338-8 (Andrew Strauss 158, Ian Bell 69)
Match tied
March 6
At Bangalore
Ireland 207 (William Porterfield 75; Yuvraj Singh 5-31) v India 210-5 (Yuvraj Singh 50 not out)
India won by five wickets
March 9
At New Delhi
Netherlands 189 v India 191-5 (Yuvraj Singh 51 not out)
India won by five wickets
March 12
At Nagpur
India 296 (Sachin Tendulkar 111, Virender Sehwag 73, Gautam Gambhir 69; Dale Steyn 5-50) v South Africa 300-7 (Jacques Kallis 69, Hashim Amla 61, AB de Villiers 52)
South Africa won by three wickets
March 20
At Chennai
India 268 (Yuvraj Singh 113, Virat Kohli 59; Ravi Rampaul 5-51) v West Indies 188 (Devon Smith 81)
India won by 80 runs
Quarter-final
March 24
At Ahmedabad
Australia 260 for 6 (Ricky Ponting 104, Brad Haddin 53) v India 261 for five (Yuvraj Singh 57 not out, Sachin Tendulkar 53, Gautam Gambhir 50)
India won by five wickets
Semifinal
March 30
At Mohali
India 260-9 (Sachin Tendulkar 85; Wahab Riaz 5-46) v Pakistan 231 (Misbah-ul-Haq 56, Mohammad Hafeez 43)
India won by 29 runs
SRI LANKA
Group stage
Feb 20
At Hambantota
Sri Lanka 332-7 (Mahela Jayawardene 100, Kumar Sangakkara 92, Tillakaratne Dilshan 50) v Canada 122
Sri Lanka won by 210 runs
Feb 26
At Colombo
Pakistan 277-7 (Misbah-ul-Haq 83 not out, Younis Khan c Jayawardene b Herath 72) v Sri Lanka 266-9 (Chamara Silva 57, Kumar Sangakkara 49, Tillakaratne Dilshan 41; Shahid Afridi 4-34)
Pakistan won by 11 runs
March 1
At Colombo
Kenya 142 (Collins Obuya 52, David Obuya 51; Lasith Malinga 6-38) v Sri Lanka 146-1 (Upul Tharanga 67 not out, Tillakaratne Dilshan 44)
Sri Lanka won by nine wickets
March 5
At Colombo
Sri Lanka 146-3 (Kumar Sangakkara 73 not out) v Australia
Match abandoned due to rain. No result - one point each
March 10
At Pallekele
Sri Lanka 327-6 (Tillakaratne Dilshan 144, Upul Tharanga 133; Chris Mpofu 4-62) v Zimbabwe 188 (Brendan Taylor 80; Tillakaratne Dilshan 4-4)
Sri Lanka won by 139 runs
March 18
At Mumbai
Sri Lanka 265-9 (Kumar Sangakkara 111, Mahela Jayawardene 66, Angelo Mathews 41 not out) v New Zealand 153 (Muttiah Muralitharan 4-25)
Sri Lanka won by 112 runs
Quarter-final
March 26
At Colombo
England 229 for 6 (Jonathan Trott 86, Eoin Morgan 50) v Sri Lanka 231 for 0 (Tillakaratne Dilshan 108 not out, Upul Tharanga 102 not out)
Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets
Semifinal
March 29
At Colombo
New Zealand 217 (Scott Styris 57) v Sri Lanka 220-5 (Tillakaratne Dilshan 73, Kumar Sangakkara 54)
Sri Lanka won by five wickets
Previous World Cup winners
1975: West Indies
1979: West Indies
1983: India
1987: Australia
1992: Pakistan
1996: Sri Lanka
1999: Australia
2003: Australia
2007: Australia
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