ICC World Cup 2019
Part 5 - Rise of Asiatic Lions
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A Small island at the Indian Ocean, just below India. Its looks like hanging from India when we see in map. But the small country made a big impact in the history of world cricket. Its not just a finger print they created a separate history for them in the world cricket. Lions from Sri Lanka can able to face any big teams at any pitch. They only introduced a destructive opening batting like scoring 100 runs in first 15 overs of One day match. They also produced the best spinner in the world. They produced a good sportsman ship player also. Even though they faced a consecutive defeat at world cup finals they just smiled and proved that they are playing gentlemen game.
Sri lanka started to play world cup from 1979 only. They missed first world cup 1975. In 1979 series itself they registered their first win against team India. Many players came and played for Sri Lanka. But those who played between 1995 to 2015 were the best among all cricket fans. Almost for two decades they were dangerous team at home. Particularly they created many records against India. Lankan's scored the highest total in test innings of 952 runs for 6 wickets. Many world class players was produced by Srilanka Muttiah Muralidharan, Kumara Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Russel Arnold, Ranathunga etc., But now there condition is like weaker than the amateur teams such as Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
World Cup Journey:
1979 - League Round
1983 - League Round
1987 - League Round
1992 - League Round
1996 - Champions
1999 - Group Stage
2003 - Semi finals
2007 - Runner Up
2011 - Runner Up
2015 - Quarter Finals
From 1979 to 1992 Sri Lanka was considered one of the kiddo team among the cricket playing nations. But there was a drastic change happened at 1996 world cup. It was hosted by India, Srilanka and Pakistan together. Their game plan worked out well and they beat the strongest aussie at finals and became world champions. This is the first spark for Sri Lanka to create a seperate place in cricket history as like Kapil & Co did for India in 1983. Again in 1999 they came out in group stage itself. But they came a bit stronger in 2003 and finished as a semifinalist. In the year 2007 and 2011 they came till finals and lost the cup. In 2007 Adam Gilchrist broke all Sri Lankan fans heart by his furious knock of 140 runs. In 2011, even though they got Sehwag and Sachin for cheap runs Gambhir and Dhoni spoiled their dream. Again in 2015 they finished their play in quarter finals itself. After this the team became very weak many experienced star players retired makes a major blow in their ICC rankings.
Sri Lankan Squad for World Cup 2019:
In the span of 4 years from 2015 to 2019 they have faced many defeats at home and away. Once they were unbeatable at home, even Australia & Pakistan also facing difficulty in defeating Lanka's at their home. But today even small teams can beat this team. The cricket board having problem with senior players which result in the transferring of skills from senior players to youngsters. After trying many captains, surprising they announced Dimuth Karunaratne as the captain of Sri Lanka for ICC world cup 2019. They didnt give chance for their regular captain Dinesh Chandimal. This is the worst ever decision taken from Sri Lankan cricket board. Its damn sure at the end of this tournament board members and selection committee will feel for this decision.
If the world cup league happens within group its okay for them atleast they can enter into next stage of the tournament. But this year its gonna happen at Round Robin method. Last time this method used in 1992 world cup. By this method all the teams should play with opponent once. So each team will play 9 matches. At the end of 9 matches based on points top four will be qualifying for Semifinals. Because of this current inexperienced Sri Lanka team have to work hard to handle teams like England, India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Even they have lot of chances to lose against Afghanistan and Bangladesh. In next post we will discuss about the team positive, problems and best XI for play.
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