Dubai: Sri Lanka are among the most-fancied teams to lift the 2011 Word Cup. The last time when the World Cup was held in the sub-continent in 1996, they were simply unstoppable and went on to emerge winners for the first time. And in the last World Cup in West Indies, they reached the final.
So Sri Lanka will commence their campaign not only with the confidence based on their past performances in the World Cup, but also the burning desire to compensate for their missed opportunity at the Kensington Oval ground in Barbados against Australia in a rain shortened 2007 final.
They have a balanced team, much stronger than the one that played in the last World Cup. Playing on familiar conditions will make them even stronger.
Sri Lanka's forte is their batting. At the top they have Tillakaratne Dilshan, who revolutionised hard-hitting through his innovative shots. Skipper Kumar Sangakkara is one of the finest left-handers in world cricket and carries the experience of having played in the 2003 and 2007 World Cups.
He is followed by Mahela Jayawardene, who has been pinned down by many critics stating his style is not suited for one-day cricket; but for sure he can keep the scoreboard ticking at a brisk pace! How can one forget that Jayawardene was the second highest run getter in the 2007 World Cup with 548 runs?
But the catch is… should these three batsmen get dismissed cheaply, then Sri Lanka do not have a buffer with some not-so-impressive batsmen for the middle slot. It here that Chamara Silva, who had scored 350 runs in the last World Cup with four half centuries, and Chamara Kapugedera must rise up to the challenge.
If the pitches are to assist spin and keep low as well, then there is not a better team than Sri Lanka to exploit those conditions. Led by the world's finest spinner in Muttiah Muralitharan and backed by two mystery bowlers Ajantha Mendis and Ranjana Herath, their spin department can get formidable.
Dangerous attack
They also have a fine line-up of pacers starting from Lasith Malinga, who took four wickets in four balls in the 2007 World Cup and is capable of running through any batting line. He will be backed by Angelo Mathews and the dangerous swing from Nuwan Kulasekara. All their pacers are good hard hitters too. Thilan Samaraweera, who began as an off spinner, has now shaped into a fine all-rounder.
Sri Lanka's Australian coach Trevor Bayliss, who took over from Tom Moody in August 2007, has done a good job. He was a fine batsman and great fielder during his playing days and that has rubbed off on the players too. Sri Lanka's fielding is undoubtedly the best among all the teams.
Sri Lanka are in a group with all their opponents struggling for form. They play Australia, who will be under tremendous pressure to retain their title. Though they play New Zealand in Mumbai, the Kiwis are in a terribly poor form now.
They also take on the inconsistent Pakistan in Colombo, and are sure to register easy victories over Canada, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
In short, Sri Lanka could easily peak and reach the quarter-finals. The rest will purely depend on the team's united effort to withstand the pressures of any high-profile matches.
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