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With talent, history and subcontinent tracks on their side, Lanka are billed Remember 1996? That was the last time the ODI World Cup was played in the Indian subcontinent. Every World Cup is remembered for its eventual winners, but this one was different. This time, the winners were not just worth remembering because they lifted the silverware, but also because they taught their more-established counterparts a lesson or two on the way. The team was Sri Lanka, and the lesson was how to make the most of fielding restrictions. It was a lesson no one ever forgot, and while others might be doing a little better now, the world still remembers how the Jayasuriya-Kaluwitharana combination started the revolution. Now, with the World Cup back in the subcontinent, the Lankans are all set to be in the running as one of the hot favourites. They have left out the likes of Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas, two players who shaped the way the team played their cricket over the past decade. For Vaas, making the cut would have anyway been tough since he had not played in the ODIs since 2008. While he would have definitely wanted a last shot at the most coveted trophy in cricket, the selectors ultimately had one doubt too many. For the swashbuckling Jayasuriya, well, time just simply caught up with him. The trademark punch in his shots had been missing for some time now, and he had built too big a reputation as a power-hitter for his ageing shoulders to carry. Also left out of the squad is Suraj ‘no-ball’ Randiv. Although they would be missed by cricket lovers, there is no way the team will be found wanting for talent. In skipper Kumar Sangakkara, they have probably the best wicket-keeper batsman in the world. Sangakkara has the ability to shift gears at will and is also one of the most poetically-elegant left-handed batsman. To add to that they have the technically-gifted Mahela Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga and Chamara Silva. That makes it a line-up spoilt for choices, and there is more. The flair and uncanny batting of Tillakaratne Dilshan means that their skill gets that extra potent edge and firepower. The island men are still not done. They have a certain Angelo Matthews, who has improved his all-round showing over the past 12 months drastically. He lends scary depth to a line-up already flowing with talent. The bowling department is headed by the most successful bowler in the history of the game, Muttiah Muralitharan. The spin master might be a shadow of his former self, still no batsman is audacious enough to write him off. Then they have the one-time mystery man in Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath, who should be able to play key roles on the tracks in the subcontinent. Even Dilshan is known for chipping in with his off-spin and he does have the reputation of disrupting partnerships. The pace bowlers in the side add to the already overwhelming reputation of the Sri Lankans. Led by Lasith Malinga, a bowler who has the rare ability to be as good with the old ball as he is lethal with the new one, the likes of Nuwan Kulasekara and Dilhara Fernando make it a mean-looking opening ball partnership, with an equally good first-change option available as well. There is also Thisara Perera, who can add variety to the attack. While the Lankans do
look like the most balanced side going into the World Cup, the one big
difference between the side that went the With all due respect to Sangakkara, he does not have the acumen, arrogance and command that a certain Arjuna Ranatunga brought to the field. While his understanding of his own ability and skill have never been in doubt, as a captain, a leader of men, the game is all about understanding others. That is where Sangakkara will have the biggest shoes to fill. The Lankans made it to the finals of the 2007 World Cup, a tournament which had turned into a nightmarish ordeal for other subcontinent teams, but ran into a charged up Australian outfit. They were butchered by Adam Gilchrist, and maybe when someone plays an innings like that, you can’t pin it on the captain. But captaincy has never been about sailing in the wind, and being blown away in the storm. There might be more to Sangakkara’s inability to assert himself as a captain than meets the eye. All in all, the Lankans do have the advantage of talent, history and subcontinent tracks on their side. They are being billed among the top three favourite teams and there is little to say that the tag is unjustified. But will they go the distance? The eventual answer will depend on a couple of simple facts. Can they fight off an equally talented India, and a charged up England? And will Sangakkara reinvent himself as a captain? The answer to the former will unfold on the field, but the answer to the latter has to be understood, not just read, in famous commentator Richie Benaud’s words, "Captaincy is 90 per cent luck and 10 per cent skill. But don’t try it without that 10 per cent."
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