Lankans, Afghans outsiders
Don’t expect too many World Cup fireworks from these struggling sides
NOT MUCH is expected from these two Asian nations, with Sri Lanka stumbling from crisis to the next, although second-time participants Afghanistan will give it their all and will indeed introduce some fresh talent to the global cricket audience.
SRI LANKA
The glory days of 1996 are long gone, while the team has still not found able replacements for legends Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Sri Lanka are in dire straits having not won a single ODI this year and will do well not to finish with the wooden spoon.
PLAYMAKER: Isuru Udana Not much should be expected from a left-arm seamer who has just two ODI wickets to his credit over the span of seven years, but Udana is Sri Lanka’s hot-ticket.
The 31-year-old seems to be enjoying a new lease of life since his recall after a three-year spell in the wilderness. But it’s not come with the ball – his primary role – but instead with the bat.
A free-swinging lower-order batsman, Udana tore the Proteas’ attack apart recently, blasting 78 off 57 balls in the ODI series before following it up with a 48-ball 84. MR DEPENDABLE: Suranga Lakmal The rage may be spin heading into #CWC19, and Sri Lanka do have some fine tweakers, but this is still England, where bowlers who can shape the new ball and swing it through the air are potential match-winners.
Lakmal is that guy.
A steady influence who never gets involved in the politics that seems to engulf Sri Lankan cricket, he simply gets on with his job of taking wickets. THE ROOKIE: Avishka Fernando A schoolboy prodigy, Fernando was destined for international cricket from a very young age. His chance came on the Australian tour in 2016 before he had even played any List A or first-class cricket. But his meteoric rise has been stemmed after he found it was much tougher to score runs against seasoned internationals than schoolboys. A further baptism on the recent South African tour would have prepared him for exams that await.
Squad: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal
AFGHANISTAN
Will Afghanistan be one of the also-rans at the World Cup, or could they cause a few upsets?
PLAYMAKER: Mohammad Shahzad is one of those old-school ODI openers. He wouldn’t lead the fitness run before training but he can certainly whack a ball.
Shahzad has five ODI centuries to his name – the last one against India in September – and is the leading runscorer in his country’s history with 2 619 at a reasonable average of 33.57. With England’s pitches seemingly batsman friendly at the moment, Shahzad will have a full go against the big teams to get Afghanistan off to a flier.
MR DEPENDABLE: Rahmat Shah He will probably be the glue around which the Afghans build their innings. The 25-yearold batting all-rounder can also turn his arm over with some leg-spin, but is in a rich vein of form with the bat. Shah scored 98 and 76 in a Test against Ireland in March, and followed it up with 113 against Scotland earlier this month. He has the best average (35.90) among the Afghan batsmen, scoring 1 939 runs in 60 ODIs.
THE ROOKIE: Mujeeb Ur Rahman At 18, the teenager is even younger than fellow spin sensation Rashid Khan (20), but has also already made a big impact in the international arena. He has taken 51 ODI wickets at an average of 19.49, and with an excellent economy rate of 3.73, he will look to put the squeeze on some of the bigger teams who may not be familiar with him.
Squad: Gulbadin Naib (capt), Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb ur Rahman