Not much is expected from Sri Lanka, with the Asian nation stumbling from one crisis to the next.
The glory days of 1996 are long gone, while the team has still not found able replacements for legends such as Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan (2007 and 2011 #CWC finalists).
Sri Lanka are in dire straits, having not won a single ODI this year. They will be hard-pressed not to finish with the wooden spoon.
Playmaker: Isuru Udana
Not much should be expected from a left-arm seamer that just has just two ODI wickets to his credit over the span of seven years, but Udana is Sri Lanka’s hot ticket for #CWC19. The 31-year-old seems to be enjoying a new lease of life since his recall after a three-year spell in the wilderness.
But it’s not come with the ball – his primary role – but instead with the willow. A free-swinging lower-order batsman, Udana tore the Proteas attack apart recently. He blasted 78 from 57 balls in the ODI series, before following it up with a 48-ball 84.
Mr Dependable: Suranga Lakmal
The rage maybe spin heading into #CWC19, and Sri Lanka do have some fine tweakers, but this is still England where bowlers that can shape the new ball and swing it through the air are potential match-winners. Lakmal is that guy. A steady influence that never gets involved in all the politics that seems to engulf Sri Lankan cricket, he simply gets on with doing his job of taking wickets.
The Rookie: Avishka Fernando
A schoolboy prodigy from St. Sebastian's College in Moratuwa, Fernando was destined for international cricket from a very young age. His chance came on the Australian tour in 2016 already before he had even played any List A or first-class cricket.
This meteoric rise has been stemmed though after Fernando found it was much tougher to score runs against seasoned internationals than schoolboys. A further baptism on the recent South African tour would though have prepared him for the tests that await at #CWC19.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWC19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CWC19 #OneTeamOneNation #LionsRoar #lka #SLC pic.twitter.com/txSjKG9XNd
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC)
World Cup Squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (captain), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
@ZaahierAdams