The greatest cricketing spectacle of this decade will commence on the Valentine’s Day in Christchurch between the hosts, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
The ‘Perennial Bridesmaid’ of ICC tournaments, Sri Lanka is finally knocking on the door to end their finals-choker tag and claim the coveted trophy on 29th March and repeat 1996 World Cup triumph.
Can Angelo Mathews lead his team to a fitting swansong for the finest pairing in cricket, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene? Can Sri Lanka be 3rd time lucky in the finals or will they even reach the finals? 20 million hearts will beat to one rhythm in a marathon-like World Cup campaign.
Exactly 19 years ago, little known Sri Lanka led by Arjuna Ranathunga lifted the Wills World Cup and stunned the cricketing world and since then, cricket has taken a deep and 
spiritual place in the heart of every Sri Lankan. In 2003, the Lankans reached the semi-finals in South Africa under Sanath Jayasuriya’s leadership. In 2007, a dark evening in Barbados snatched the title away from Mahela Jayawardene’s men in the final against the mighty Aussies. Four years ago, Kumar Sangakkara and his men were outclassed by the neighbouring Indians in a high-scoring final. What will be the destiny for Sri Lanka in 2015? Both Sanga and Mahela have one last chance to lay hands to a World Cup in 50-overs cricket after they aptly ended their T20 careers in a victorious manner in Bangladesh, 2014.
Sri Lanka has always performed extraordinarily in ICC tournaments as they always find ways of winning than losing. Sri Lanka has won 27 World Cup games in the last five tournaments, next only to Australia. They always start as underdogs and this time around, it is no different. A mixed bag of recent performances and a mediocre bowling depth has tagged the sub-continent nation to be a scapegoat in the upcoming World Cup by many critics yet as a die-hard Lankan fans, we deny that claim.
The most-experienced squad to feature in the 11th ICC World Cup with over 2000 ODIs among the squad and it includes three past captains and a T20 world cup winning skipper, Sri Lanka has the pedigree to go all the way. The Lankan Lions is a rhythm outfit, when they start losing; they discover unprecedented ways of losing games while they are on a roll of winning, no team is better than the men from the tiny island in the Indian Ocean.
Angelo Mathews, ‘Captain Marvel’ is best known for rear-guard action and the knack of taking wickets with his wicket-to-wicket seamers. With his ability to hold down in defense or escalate attack, Mathews will be an invaluable component in the experienced run-getting machine of Sri Lanka comprising Dilshan, Sangakkara and Mahela. All Lankan supporters and well-wishers would want the ‘Big 3’ to face many deliveries in the World Cup and score heavily as Mahela and Sangakkara who are on song most of the time, is expected to ring out a most enchanting melody in their final sojourn.
With Thirimanne’s promotion to the top-order, the Lankan lower middle order is a bit flustered and lacks the fire power. Dimuth Karunarathne made two solid knocks in the warm-up games but he is a opener not a middle-order player yet his technique is suited for the conditions and with Chandimal not proving himself, the left-hander is tipped to bat in the number 6 position.
The main concern for Sri Lanka will be their bowling attack. After a long injury layoff, Lasith Malinga has returned to full fitness and will lead the attack but lately his bowlers have been every batsman’s favourite lineup to face. Sri Lanka’s mantra of winning games has been posting a competitive total on the board, batting first and then squeezing down the opposition with their skilled spinners and the medium pacers but in Australia/New Zealand conditions, can they perform the same trick?
If Sri Lanka is to put up a 1996’ equivalent, accuracy and swing is a must from Nuwan Kulasekara while out-of-form all-rounder Thisara Perera must add to his nine Man of the Match awards. In my opinion, Sri Lanka should give the responsibility of being the ‘Secret Weapon’ to little known 23-year old speedster, Dushmantha Chameera who is able to rank it up to 146kmph and more. Rangana Herath and Sachithra Senanayake have been the best sub-continent spinners outside Asia and they will surely look to continue their good work of strangling the opposition with their bag of tricks.
The Sri Lanka team is blessed with many all-rounders in the squad yet they must go with the combination of 6 batsmen, 1 all-rounder and 4 specialist bowlers. This composition can be varied according to the situations and the games, such as their fixtures against Australia (Sydney) and England (Wellington). The grounds in Australia are far bigger and more spin-friendlier than in New Zealand and these small things will have a say when deciding the makeup of the team.
Sri Lanka last lost a World Cup encounter to New Zealand in 1992 and after a 4-2 drubbing, the hosts are expected to change the history yet Sri Lanka will compete fiercely and they will have to play to their full potential in all group stage encounters to reach quarter-finals with winning momentum behind them. From the knockout stage, it will be all do or die circumstances as it comes. The conditions and seamer-friendly pitches will be the biggest test for Sri Lanka but they are well-acclimatized by now after a long tour of 50 days in New Zealand.
Finally, Sri Lanka has all the ingredients to cook a winning soup and to stake hold their 2nd World Cup title on 29th March and we at www.thepapare.com believes the Lions will roar down under.
Full Squad:
Angelo Mathews (captain), Lahiru Thirimanne (vice-captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senanayake, Dushmantha Chameera.
Fixtures:
February 14: v New Zealand, Christchurch.
February 22: v Afghanistan, Dunedin.
February 26: v Bangladesh, Melbourne.
March 1: v England, Wellington.
March 8: v Australia, Sydney.
March 11: v Scotland, Hobart.
