Cricket World Cup 2019: The Underdogs

#4 Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka enters the World Cup depleted and undercooked

Despite being gutted by the retirements of their best talent in years, Sri Lanka is not short of maverick, unorthodox players. The mystery bowlers from this tiny island nation turn up like with the regularity of sea tides. Batsmen are often left wondering - what is this coming towards me? Why is the ball defying laws of physics? What sorcery was that?

They still have world-class players; however, they are not a unit that can string together a title challenging sequence of victories. The Lankans have also stopped depending massively on spinners in the ODIs with pacers and all-rounders becoming match winners.

The Islanders have a good core, but it has not gelled cohesively yet. Watching them will be frequently frustrating and intermittently exhilarating.

Current ICC Ranking: 9

Captain: Dimuth Karunaratne | Key Players: Lasith Malinga, Kusal Perera, Angelo Mathews