We’ve been receiving a few questions regarding Sri Lanka’s World Cup squad over the past few weeks – here are some of the most frequently asked ones and what we hope are satisfactory answers.
Is Dimuth Karunaratne the least experienced skipper to lead Sri Lanka in a World Cup?
The Sri Lanka Cricket team has been led by 8 Captains so far in World Cups with Dimuth Karunaratne becoming the 9th one to carve his name in the record books when he leads the team at the 2019 World Cup.
Dimuth Karunaratne will be the least experienced captain to lead Sri Lanka in a World Cup after Sri Lanka’s first ODI captain Anura Tennakoon, who led the country at the 1975 and 1979 World Cups. To put this into context however, Sri Lanka played their first ODI at the 1975 World Cup and between the 1975 and 1979 World Cups, the island didn’t participate in any ODIs.
Before the upcoming World Cup, Karunaratne is set to lead Sri Lanka in 2 ODIs versus Scotland; that will be his only captaincy experience in ODIs.
Interestingly, Karunaratne will also be the 2nd least experienced ODI player to lead a Sri Lankan team in a World Cup as he has played only 17 ODIs (+2) so far after Anura Tennakoon and Dulip Mendis. Mendis had played 18 ODIs before leading Sri Lanka in 1983.
Which is the most inexperienced squad at CWC19?
With the addition of the new captain and players like Avishka Fernando, Isuru Udana, it is fair to think that the Sri Lanka squad is the least experienced of all the teams participating in the World Cup. However, the number of ODIs played by those in the Afghan squad is the lowest of all squads.
Sri Lanka sits ahead of Afghanistan, West Indies, Australia and Pakistan in terms of ODI experience.
How many have led Sri Lanka since the 2015 World Cup?
- The magic number is seven. Since Sri Lanka’s quarter final exit at the 2015 World Cup, Angelo Mathews has led Sri Lanka in the highest number of ODIs (39 ODIs out of the 84)
Also Read: Memoirs of Mathews
Interestingly, 3 of those 7 captains have not even been selected in the World Cup squad for 2019 (Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga and Chamara Kapugedara). *Dimuth Karunaratne has not led Sri Lanka in ODIs yet but is set to do so against Scotland ahead of the World Cup.
How many players have represented Sri Lanka since the 2015 World Cup?
62.
*Countries who have played all the World Cups
Who has played the most ODIs in the CWC19 Sri Lanka squad?
Lasith Malinga is the table topper with 218 ODIs. He is also the 6th highest capped player overall to participate in World Cup 2019. (MS Dhoni leads with 341 ODIs)
Except Malinga, Angelo Mathews is the only player to have played more than 200 ODIs in the squad.
One fascinating fact is that the 5 most capped players in this squad (barring Lahiru Thirimanna) have played together in only 3 ODIs since the 2015 World Cup.
The win in the Champions’ Trophy 2017 vs India was one of those 3 ODIs.
Read: Dear Sri Lanka, please stand up!
Who is Sri Lanka’s best performer in World Cups?
This is a hard question to answer as Sri Lanka has been blessed with so many talented players who have performed exceptionally well in World Cups.
Sometimes, stats may not tell the complete story, but it is difficult to look past the World Cup stats.
The Legend Murali is the 2nd highest wicket taker in World Cup history behind Glenn McGrath. The hat-trick specialists Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga also feature in the top 10 list.
On the batting front, Mahela Jayawardene’s knockout centuries, Sanath Jayasuriya’s 1996 Man of the Tournament performance, Kumar Sangakkara’s four consecutive tons and TM Dilshan’s brutal batsmanship has put them in the all-time top ten World Cup highest runs scorers list.
That’s seven of them. In all time World top ten lists. From this tiny island.
But can we ever forget the mighty Aravinda and Arjuna: the masterminds of Sri Lanka’s World Cup triumphs who put Sri Lanka on the World map?
What is Sri Lanka’s lowest sitting in ODI rankings?
Sri Lanka currently sits at 9th in the ODI rankings table (as of 2019.05.02) This is the lowest ever ranking in their ODI history.
