Sri Lanka favourite to lift World Cup

SAJEEVA JAYAKODY

When Sri Lanka won the Wills World Cup in 1996, Sri Lanka’s strength was their experienced and strong batting line up which included seven century makers.

There was a saying at that time that even Brian Lara may not be able to find a place in the Lankan line up.

This time too Sri Lanka has a very good squad. We must be grateful to the captain and Selection Committee Chairman Aravinda de Silva for picking a balanced 15-man squad for the World Cup. According to Australian Mathew Hayden, Sri Lanka has the most balanced combination in the competition.

Suitable changes are the winning methods of a team. When Arjuna Ranatunga decided to bring Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana as the opening batsmen it brought fortune and the pair initiated the new batting style in the first 15 overs.

In the 1996 World Cup semi-final match against India, Sri Lanka were struggling after losing their top order below 50 runs. But captain Ranatunga decided to send Roshan Mahanama in to put up a valuable partnership with Aravinda de Silva. Ultimately Sri Lanka made 251 runs and won that controversial match in Eden Garden, India, to enter the final.

Suggested Sri Lanka batting order:

1 Upul Tharanga
2 Tillekeratne Dilshan
3 Chamara Kapugedera
4 Mahela Jayawardena (VC)
5 Kumar Sangakkara (C & WK)
6 Thilan Samaraweera
7 Angelo Mathews
8 Thisara Perera
9 Lasith Malinga
10 Rangana Herath
11 Muttiah Muralitharan

This time too, Sri Lanka has seven excellent batsmen. There is no doubt about the opening pair. Tharanga and Dilshan are a capable opening pair. But there should be a change in the number three position. At present, prolific batsman Kumar Sangakkara is batting well in this position. But the problem is, if he gets out early, then the team could be demoralized. So it is better to bring potential batsman Chamara Kapugedara at number three position. It may be a good decision to guide him towards being a great batsman in the future.

Elegant batsmen Mahela Jayawardena and captain Kumar Sangakkara are the backbone of the Sri Lanka batting. So these two world class players should be batting at number four and five positions like great Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga did. It may be huge morale boost for the top order batsmen Tharanga, Dilshan and Kapugedara.

Thilan Samaraweera’s inclusion at number six position is perfect when considering his solid batting. In 1996 World Cup Hashan Tillekeratne was batting at this position and this time too Samaraweera will have to play a similar role.

Young Angelo Mathews is the strength of Sri Lanka batting in the middle. He can keep on end going while hitting big shots at the end which may be a huge bonus. He has been proving his stability at number seven by leading the team to many victories. Recently, Sri Lanka coach Trevor Baylis insisted that the inclusion of Thisara Perera in the bowling line up may be a threat to the opposition batsmen with his unreadable pace. Perera or Kulasekara can be changed considering the match and the opponents’ weaknesses on a particular day.

Perera has been a tremendous hard hitting batsman at the bottom in the Sri Lanka batting and can finish strongly with Angelo Mathews.

As Aravinda de Silva said, Sri Lanka is strong in their bowling. Malinga, Muralitharan, Herath, Mathews and Thisara Perera or Nuwan Kulaskera have perfect variation.

But the captain must consider getting a few overs from Samaraweera, Dilshan and Kapugedara to put the pressure on the opposition.

With the assistance of great fielder Ruwan Kalpage’s coaching Sri Lanka is expected to have a brilliant fielding side.

Playing in the sub-continent and having a balanced combination, Sri Lanka is the favourite to lift the World Cup this time.