Good chance of Sri Lanka's pace ace Malinga returning for tomorrow's third test is bad news for Dhoni & co

Lasith Malinga's return could be bad news for India

Good chance of Sri Lanka's pace ace Malinga returning for tomorrow's third test is bad news for Dhoniu00a0& co

Lasith Malinga may not 100 per cent fit. But he could play in the third Test to torment India yet again like he did in the opening Test at Galle where India lost by 10 wickets.

India and Sri Lanka lock horns in the third and final Test at the P Sara Oval tomorrow. Malinga, who has a stiff left knee, has been included in the squad from which the final XI will be named. Convener of selectors Aravinda de Silva said, "Hopefully, Malinga will play but we also need to get fitness concerns out of the way first. That is a priority. Once they are finally cleared, we can think about the rest of the side. "

While others were more confident about Malinga's inclusion, there is talk that he will miss the triangular series in Dambulla starting next week.

Sources in the Sri Lankan board said Malinga would be monitored over the next 24 hours but the prognosis looked good that he would play.

Sri Lanka lead the current three- match series 1-0 with the second game drawn at the Sinhalese Sports Club run factory where, if you look at the bare statistics of the match that ended in a stalemate last Friday, they explain a sorry story: 1478 runs in 430 overs for the loss of 17 wickets, which is an average of 3.43 runs an over.

Looking at the pitch for the third game of the series, it is one where the ball always does a lot on the first day. Last year, Pakistan were bowled out for 90 in 36 overs 40 minutes after lunch with the wickets shared between Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara and Ajantha Mendis.

It is the second lowest Test total at a venue where India lost by eight wickets in 2008 and will be the third Test that the tourists have played here and only Mendis of that trio is playing.

Sri Lanka have won their last five matches at this venue and the ball usually moves around a lot in the first two sessions. Despite knowing its history as a result pitch, Younis Khan opted to bat first last year when winning the toss, as did Anil Kumble in 2008, when India were beaten by nine wickets.

There is a certain amount of grass on the surface at present but that doesn't mean it will remain that way, although after the hammering he has taken in the local and international media over the SSC debacle, the national curator Anuruddha Polonwita is saying only that, "it is a typical Oval pitch."

He has already apportioned blame somewhere else for the latest in a string of drawn matches at the SSC. When finally cornered over the issue, he blamed the weak bowling by both sides.

This has that apocryphal imagery which says a lot and explains nothing. Sri Lanka's bowling was minus the retired Muttiah Muralitharan and injured Malinga.

India's was headed by a couple of rookies and an unfit Harbhajan Singh, whose career tally is 357 wickets in 85 Tests.

At this stage, no one is certain of who will make the final playing XI on either side. There has been an initial concern about Sachin Tendulkar's fitness but this is due to stiffness from his 48th Test century innings which he turned into his fifth double century.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni also brushed aside a suggestion that India's young pace bowling attack would be scarred after the drawn Test.

Sri Lanka who relied on two bowlers to win them the Test at Galle have worries too.

Without Muttiah Muralitharan and Malinga, they failed to produce a match-winning performance.