Sri Lanka, the dark horse of the World Cup !

While cricket pundits give maximum chances to India, SA and England, Sri Lanka may very well be the dark horse.

On spin tracks, Sri Lanka can be formidable, with their spin trio of Murali, Herath and Mendis.

In Mahela Dilshan and Sangakara, they have three explosive batsmen and a good all rounder in Angelo Mathews.

They have some new faces, but then their team is a blend of youth and experience.



Malinga Bandara
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Dilhara Fernando
Rangana Herath
Chinthaka Jayasinghe
Mahela Jayawardene
Prasanna Jayawardene
Nuwan Kulasekara
Jeevantha Kulatunga
Suranga Lakmal
Angelo Mathews
Ajantha Mendis
Jehan Mubarak
Dilshan Munaweera
Tharanga Paranavitana
Kushal Janith Perera
Thilan Samaraweera
Kumar Sangakkara
Isuru Udana
Sajeewa Weerakoon

Meanwhile, the CM of Bengal, is intervening to get the Eden Gardens match on Feb 27.

"S A Tour has nothing to do with the World Cup", says Bajji. Forget about the tour, although it gave India some fine moments !.

Still there are many who bat for India. Ex wicket keeper Kirmani thinks India has a big chance, as it is one of the most balanced sides ever. All the players from bottom to top are match winners. Any of them can singlehandedly win the match for India. Dhoni, Yuvraj, Gambhir, Sachin, Sehwag, Raina or Pathan - all of them are capable of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, as Pathan almost did it in South Africa. There are many amongst them who can bowl spin, which can be of immense use on the spin tracks of India !

"All are in form. We have an extremely well-balanced team and the best part is everyone seems to be in form".

"We have a very good chance this time as our side is a very competent one. They are equally competent, if not more, than some of the other teams. We have been hoping and praying for the last 28 years for India to lift the Cup again and it seems that this team has it in them to fulfil the wish,"

"You never know, Australia can come back any time. You can never count them out. Obviously, the experienced players, who won the Cup thrice for the country are not there anymore but Aussies are in a process of re-establishing themselves.

"The youngsters will certainly take some time to reach that level. So, as a team they definitely look a little weaker at the moment as compared to some of the stronger sides like India, South Africa, England.

"But again if you look at the ongoing ODI series between England and Australia, the latter are doing well and the English, who thought it would be a cake-walk for them after their 3-1 Ashes victory, are finding it tough.


"The New Zealanders, Pakistanis and Australians could never be underestimated. Just like Australia, Pakistan also have some talented young players who can spring up surprises.

Kirmani was a member of the victorious 1983 squad. He said " Unlike ours, which was a weaker unit and were given a tag of the underdogs, this team is very strong."

"We never thought we would lift the Cup. We were the most inexperienced team in the competition. We just aimed at qualifying for the knockout stage. That was the only thing on our minds. In fact, no body even expected us to reach the knock-out round also," reminiscenced Kirmani.

"But we gained confidence when we won our opening match against then reigning world champions West Indies by 34 runs.

After that game, we thought if we could beat the Windies in the very first encounter, why should we look back?"