ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Three Players to Watch out for Sri Lanka

1996 World Champions will be looking to make an impression in this World Cup. The side has gone through a lot of turmoil in white-ball cricket. Captaincy has changed hands regularly as Angelo Matthews, Upul Tharanga, Dinesh Chandimal and Lasith Malinga failed to end Sri Lanka’s winless streak in one-day internationals.

Newly-appointed Dimuth Karunaratne will be determined to make sure that the Islanders can compete hard in this mega event. Given his excellent leadership that saw Sri Lanka win their maiden Test series in South Africa, the fans will be hoping that the side can spring a surprise

Players to watch out for:

Kusal Perera

Sri Lanka’s Kusal Perera is perhaps the only impact player in the current squad. The left-hander is an experienced campaigner as he has played 88 ODIs for his country, where he has scored 2,283 runs at an average of 29.26 and with a strike-rate of 90.77, which include four centuries and 11 fifties. Recently Perera player what many believe is the best-ever innings in the five-day format as he single-handedly guided Sri Lanka home for a famous win against South Africa and the team management will be hoping that their star batsman can produce the same kind of magic in the 50-over format as well.

Thisara Perera

Thisara Perera is the Sri Lanka’s most in-form cricketer if the recent record is looked at closely. In the previous two years, Perera has been influential with both bat and ball. During that duration, the 30-year-old has scored 798 runs at an average of 26.60 and at a strike-rate of 115.31, which is the best by any Sri Lanka batsman who has played more than 10 innings during that duration. That’s not it as with the ball in hand, Perera has claimed 43 wickets (second highest by any Sri Lanka bowler), that too with an impressive strike-rate of 28.2, which is the best by bowler from the Islander’s nation. Therefore, the team management will be hoping that their star performer can continue to perform in the upcoming all-important tournament.

Lasith Malinga

Lasith Malinga is the Sri Lanka’s leader in the bowling attack. The 35-year-old will be playing his last major tournament in the 50-over format and will be looking to finish his career on a high. In ODIs, Malinga possess an impressive record of 322 wickets in just 212 matches at an outstanding strike-rate of 32.6 and with an impressive economy-rate of just 5.33.