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With the World Cup in his sight, Ponting waits for Jayawardene
© AFP
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Fuel was added to the pre-match tension between the World Cup finalists sides when Australian captain Ricky Ponting was kept waiting for more than an hour by his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahela Jayawardene for a promotional photoshoot on the beach at St Lucia. Ponting had to delay his departure from St Lucia to Barbados to make the shoot possible, and was watched by the media, his displeasure quite obvious. The Sydney Morning Herald reported the subsequent meeting of the captains, and Ponting made his displeasure known when he asked Jayawardene, “ a bit late are you?”. Jayawardene blamed a communication gap for the delay. The rival captains were all smiles in the eventual photoshoot, holding the trophy together.
This incident is bound to motivate the Australians even further, the relationship between the two sides not being very friendly. The resting of veterans Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan for an inconsequential Super Eights match on April 16 was met with strong disapproval from the Australian camp with Ponting saying that the move could go against them in the final. But this was met with a strong response from Sri Lanka coach and Ponting's former team mate Tom Moody saying that the composition of his team was not the concern of Australia. He also pointed out that Australia had done the same, resting some of its main players for the Chappell- Hadlee series in New Zealand held in February.
Australia will be looking to make sure that there is no repeat of the World Cup in 1996, which Sri Lanka won convincingly. This being strike bowler Glenn McGrath's last World Cup, his team is keen to give him and out-going coach John Buchanan a parting gift. On the Sri Lankan side too there are a few - notably Sanath Jayasuriya - for whom this would their final World Cup and the side will be determined to see them off an a fitting note. Overall, it promises to be one humdinger of a contest.
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