Sri Lanka has the most interesting team in the Cup. They open with Sanath Jayasuriya, the arch-heretic of modern cricket: he breaks every rule in the book and yet he is one of the most effective ODI allrounders in contemporary cricket. He plays nearly every single shot with the bat angled and the bat face open, and he lifts the ball more often than he plays it along the ground and despite this he's probably won more matches for Sri Lanka off his own bat than any one else on that team. Upul Tharanga is a good partner for him: he had a wonderful tour of England and hit two centuries in the Champions Trophy, so if Jayasuriya gives us a half-decent swansong, Sri Lanka's likely to be off to some great starts.

The captain, Mahela Jayawardene and his predecessor, Marvan Atapattu are better at the longer game but they've adapted orthodoxy to the needs of one-day cricket and when they're in form, they make reliability seem a graceful and attractive quality.

Nationalism aside, Kumar Sangakkara is my favourite cricketer. His record in Tests is better than his ODI record, but an average of 36 and a strike rate of 75 is very respectable for a top-order player who also keeps wicket. But that isn't why I like him. Like a good desi I'm a sucker for anyone who talks a good game and I've never heard a cricketer speak as lucidly and impressively as he does. There's a two part interview on Cricinfo with Sanjay Manjrekar where he's so sharp and so fluent that he makes Mike Brearley seem inarticulate. And unlike Brearley, this guy can bat—he averages over fifty as a Test batsman—and keep wickets.

The one thing this Sri Lankan team seems to lack is an intimidating batsman who comes in after the openers and can, if required, take the game away from the opposition with pure aggression. Aravinda de Silva came to the wicket at Eden Gardens during the semi-finals of the 1996 World Cup, after Sri Lanka had lost a couple of early wickets, and destroyed us. He just decided that the bowlers had to go…and they went. Sangakkara might become that sort of batsman in time, but he isn't there yet. Australia is a great team because Ricky Ponting can walk in after an early wicket, watch a couple more fall and still go for the bowling as if it were business as usual. (The Indian team is particularly bad at dealing with the loss of early wickets: despite the enormous experience and talent in the batting line-up, its instinct is to hunker down like a besieged garrison.)

The Sri Lankan bowling is a constant delight. Chaminda Vaas, little more than medium now, is a canny old fox and his batting gets better all the time. Dilhara Fernando reminds me of the tall West Indian quicks of yore, right down to the bounce he gets off the wicket and the stress fractures. Facing Fernando and Lasith Malinga operating in tandem must be weirdly disorienting: one minute the ball's steepling down at you from eight feet; the next second your radar's trying to home in on a low flying missile slung at you from under five.

After his destruction of the West Indies in the Champions Trophy, Farveez Maharoof seems a real prospect though he'll have to compete with Dilhara for a place in the eleven. And then, of course, we have the great man himself, Muttiah Muralitharan. Sri Lanka missed him in their tour of India before the World Cup, though to be fair to the Indians, they're such good players of spin that Murali's never really been a mortal threat. But the man has more than four hundred wickets at twenty-three runs apiece at an economy-rate under four runs an over. If you were picking the bowling attack for a World IX you'd pencil him in right after Glenn McGrath.

So speaking strictly as an alien, I want to see an Australia-Sri Lanka final. And should the Sri Lankans win, it'll be nice if they don't take the trophy off to be blessed by the Buddhist clergy like they did the last time they were champions. Murali, Farveez, Atapattu, Malinga and the rest of the team do their best for Sri Lanka, not for some majoritarian Sinhala Buddhist state. Nationalisms that exalt a dominant faith dishonour the collective effort that makes team games special. They should have no place in cricket.

After all fumed aat you as Indian patriot, now you start to be an asian patriot. Make journals reviewing every aspects clearly,
I understood one thing
Australia is the ultimate team to beat. A team can beat Australia when bad luck rues the team work for Australia. Dont you agree if England and SA or NZ makes final. Sri Lanka is also a tough contender, but be ready if bangladesh upsets a game in group, one sub continent team should watch super 8 in TV. The team that delivers the best will win the cup. If you write journals, please make unpartial comments. You made a previous blog that Lara and 11 dwarfs, For such biased comments, i wish none of the subcontinent teams should come to semis, the champions trophy semis should be repeated.

I simply disagree that Patriotism should be involved in your choice of the team I support. I cop a lot of heat for supporting New Zealand, being an Indian. To me the sport has always been greater than any Nation. Even when New Zealand play I only wished they won but I know the team that plays well should win. To explain myself: It goes back to that semi-final in 1996 when I felt betrayed by eleven players representing my nation. There was no fight, we merely laid down our weapons and to top it off the crowd misbehaved to doubly insult the sport. Every time NZ takes the field - they are far inferior to the quality and skill that most of the top 8 teams have. But take a look at their record. They do what they do very well, they never give up. The game is on until it is over. Besides, you never count them out even if they need 150 runs in 20 overs with four wickets in hand. All that aside when India plays Pakistan- I know which side of the fence I am on :-) As far as Sri Lanka goes, I think they are a very strong unit and they should be one of the favourites to win it.

It was like a breath of fresh air reading Mukul's comments on the Sri Lankan team, especially because it was emanating from a non-Sri Lankan. I listened to Sangakkara's interview with Manjrekar, I whole heartedly agree with Mukul that he is the most eloquent and articulate speaker amongst the cricketers and also amongst the commentators.
Be that as it may, I do not know what the future holds for the Sri Lankan team in the world cup. But it is a joy to see them celebrating on the field with such enthusiasm. The England and the Australian teams used to react very formally when taking a wicket. But it has changed now. There is jumping, screming and hugging. Did Sri Lanka influence it?
I think the whole world rejoiced(except Australia) when they beat Australia in the 1996 world cup final. It is mainly because they are a team the whole world loves and not a team that the whole world loves to hate. Hope Sunny would like to comment on this.

Good article! Just a factual correction: India did not bat first in the 1996 semi-final!

A very good article, but a strange ending. Why should it matter to any bystander what the rituals are of the Sri Lankan cricket team, true there are many members of the team that are non buddhist, but Sri Lanka is a majority Sinhalese Buddhist country, and as such tradition is prevalent. Its simply a ritual, a team always obtains blessings before leaving for foreign territory, I'm not religious in the slightest, but if you're looking at an example such as Pakistan, they are a muslim country and their religion is shown prominently on the field, some of there players were initially Christian, but those players had no quams. Religon has no place in cricket? but sure, cricket is played by such diverse nations, that there will always be cultrue gaps, and in South Asia religion determines culture. Go Sri Lanka, or else, West Indies, You can always enjoy a fairy tale ending.

This is by no means in retaliation to the thoughtless and random comment that Mr.Kesavan has made at the end of his article, to quote "It would be nice if the Sri Lankan team does not take the trophy to be blessed by the clergy in Sri Lanka" . To satrt with I do not think any player who participated in that glorious win had any thought pleasing any country or state (Buddhist or otherwise).They played the game hard and won.Every sigle player, whether they catch a batsman out by desperately holding onto a ball with speeds upto 154 Km /hour or score a century or even a fifty looks upto thank their own gods and that includes all players of any sport of any religious persuation.I am sure as a team they might visit a place that is holy to a given nation but in the final analysis it is their personal gods that they prey to and rely on and count on.I am left wondering what random thought process drove you to make this comment and at such a crucial time!! Was your intention to create tension within the Srilankan team. I wonder!All in all this article which is obviously written by an alien possibly to be read by aliens , only succeeds in delivering a backhanded compliment to the Sri lankan team and most of all to the players who has worked so hard to get here.This comment also begs the question " would it be much motre nicer if the trophy was to be taken to be blessed by an Alien God?
WHAT DOES IT MATTER WHAT ONE DOES WiIH SUCH AN HONOUR AS RECEIVING SUCH A TROPHY, AS LONG AS ONE HONOUR THE PLAYERS AS WELL AS THE GAME WHICH GAVE YOU THAT TROPHY AND TAKING IT ONE'S PLACE OF WORSHIP IS THE ULTIMATE HONOUR THAT ONE CAN BESTOWE ON IT.

Just a correction on your comment about the 1996 Semi-Final between India and Sri Lanka. We, Sri Lanka, batted first and scored 252. India started collapsing when Tendulkar was run out by the 'keeper, Kaluwitharana, when he attempted to take a run from a sweep-shot. Then when India started self destructing and were 8 down for 100+, the crowd started rioting and threw things on the field.

Excellent post Mukul.

As I am deeply patriotic, I obviously wish for a Sri Lankan victory. If Sri Lanka isn’t affected, I will always side with the underdog in a good close game. If a team runs away with the game I then feel cheated as I want to see the two sides battle it out to the end.

I do also agree with your statement regarding the Buddhist Clergy. The clergy bless the team on departure on any overseas assignment and it has now become a tradition as opposed to a religious ceremony.

Srilanka at the moment seem a fantastic and rejuvenated outfit under Jayawardene. They most probably will make it to the semi finals. But to see if they can go beyond those boundaries, we need to see how the middle order performs in the league and super eight matches. If they get back into form with the likes of jayawardene, silva and arnold firing on all cylinders, then definitely there is no stopping them. This world cup is going to be a battle of the middle orders and all- rounders (as always) more than anything else. And that is the only problem srilanka faces. Their top order is good with sangakarra coming in one down. Their bowling is great with vaas, maharoof and murali. Maharoof has clearly come off age and looks international standard. But, are they good enough to stop a very good team such as Australia or South Africa or as a matter of fact India is the big question. Remember, the Indians always up the ante during the world cup. So beware of them! If I were extra terrestrial and were to be supporting the SriLankans I would be pretty nervous about their prospects of lifting the cup yet again.

This is really a sill article from a person who can't put his thoughts into the right place. It is very strange for me to see someone else supporting him saying that sport is greater than a nation.

I think Indian spectators behaved like that because there are people like 'Venu'.

As someone who cheers Sri Lanka, I was gratified to see Mukul Kesavan generously support my team. Mukul focused on the weird and wonderful unorthodoxies seen in the Sri Lanka team. That in itself makes you want to cheer for these guys. They are like a troupe of circus entertainers all having different 'acts'. No other international team comes close!

Mr. Kesavan closes with an uncharacteristic bit of vitriol. I personally don't see anything wrong with a bit of religious blessing. It's pretty harmless, I think, and I say that as someone who thinks that organized religion is mostly bunk. I am sure that Hindu and Christian priests in Sri Lanka joined Buddhist monks in blessing the Cup in '96. The blessings simply confer local cultural legitimacy; it should not be confused with parochial ethnocentrism.

Yesterday I saw some video footage of Indian supporters prostrating themselves before Hindu temples and a photograph of the Indian three-headed lion symbol being graced by the portraits of Ganguly, Dravid, and Tendulkar. Nationalist, of course, but no harm done! Surely one expects nationalism when there are countries playing other countries. As a Canadian I am ticked off when I hear Americans bellow 'USA! USA! USA!' in support of US teams or participants but, upon reflection, it seems to me that it is better to allow this venting of steam, this expression of harmless nationalism.

Sri Lanka vs. Australia in the Final --- now that's a thought to savour! I want Sri Lanka to win but, failing that, it will be great to see the West Indies triumph.

It is a good article.like everyone, i wish Srilanka to lift the cup.It is a land with differences in ethnic,language and religion, but when it comes as a nation all the people there decorates under one roof,SRILANKAN.Their team spirit, dedication to the game and discipline on and off the field were very high.they are in good form and all the players are in form and w/o any injuries.Their strength is that they dont play as collective individuals, but as a individual team. thats make everyone to love the lankans. my full support to the islanders.

u seem to have written this in a hurry.very poor and abrupt ending.what about the weaknesses of the team?

Me thinks the extra terrestrial is biased- To a large extent, bowlers have worked out jayasurya and have managed to get him out in his strong areas. Malinga too is no longer a novelty, and Murali is not a real wicket taking threat though he does manage to restrict scoring in the middle overs

Why only buddists get blessed when the SL team is leaving... if you acually look at it players like maharoof, arnold etc stand away from the ceremony which is shown on tv. who blesses them?? they seem to have no say.. this is not being racist but the fact.. I am a patriotic sri lankan supporter too.. but there should be all religions or none involved.. and same occured when sri lanka won the world cup in 1996.. to end off cricket has no religion. Snagakkara and his english makes the whole nation proud. Com'on Sri lanka we r waitin u to bring home the world cup.. we deserve it more than anyone and it will be a fitting tribute to the ones who are playing their last world cup who have won matches for us single handedly.. GOOD LUCK BOYS.. lets show those aussies what we r made of... cheers

anyone but Australia to lift the cup... even 'Subedar Major' will do.

SL is by far a good choice for a team to win the cup though I do not see anything magical or overtly romantic about their team or game.

may this best win in a tough contest.

on religion + sports it is a choice to made by a team and country. no need to use harsh language against it. though personally i am against it. i feel that by highlighting religion overtly 'Subedar Major' has done more harm to the team than good. can't be very different for SL. a buddhist might see the blessing of the cup as tradition but for a non-buddhist it is not so easy. indians praying to x headed gods and y headed lions is a personal matter. the team did not go for blessings.

and by the way 'Subedar Major' has decided to speak only in Urdu. Another SL connection - remember the post on C Silva...

A very interesting article, do not be surprised my friend if your predictions come true.....We are capable more than ever.SL won in 1996 performing well in just two departments, batting and feilding. We had the worst bowling attack in 1996 finishing eigth placed in runs conceded and runs conceded per wicket.This tinme round we are a balanced side as mentioned and can be dangerous to any team if the front order does not cave in. The only area where the flaws are evident.
With reference to the religious remark I wish to add...
I wish all Sri Lankans will think the same (be united as when supporting the national cricket team)when it comes to sorting out our ethnic problem. When we all sit and cheer our team which represents almost all ethnic groups we must remember that they represent SriLanka as one. So let it be one nation but respect and accept all ethnic groups as one.As for the religious blessings those who know will vouch that all religions were represented. So please do not try to drive a wedge.A multi ethnic muti religious community will have the up-and-downs but if we are united we will concour all and sundry including the world cup 2007.

Sri Lanka have a balanced side, I will not be surprised to see them make the final. They have a good batting lineup and a well-balanced bowling attack. They do lack the lower middle-order batsmen who can hold together an innings in the case of a collapse or provide acceleration towards the end to make a total seem unreachable. Provided their upper and middle order play to their potential, they are a handful for any side. I still say, India is going to bring this trophy home, this is their year!

By birth I am Indian. But, by passion I am a Sri Lankan.

I fully agree with the writer. And, take it from me, we, sorry, the Lankans are going to lift the WC'07. They are the most balanced side and, unlike the paper tigers i.e. the Indians, the Lankans play for pride and their country.

It would be a tribute to the greatest UNSELFISH all-rounder (after Sir Gary Sobers)- Sanath Jayasuriya - if the Lankan Lions win on April 28, 07.

Long live the Lankan Lions.

Mukul's analysis will warm the cockles of the heart of any Sri Lankan supporter. There was no need to spoil it all with a vitriolic comment about the Buddhist clergy. What is wrong in receiving a blessing from anyone? I am pretty sure that the Sri Lankan team in 1996 was blessed not only by the Buddhist clergy but by the Christian Church hierarchy and by Hindu and Muslim clergy as well. Above all they were well and truly blessed by the people of Sri Lanka. Anything wrong with that Mukul?

thanks Mukul for some inspirational comments.Well i personally believe subcontinent cricketer are the most delightful ones to watch sans great west indians few years ago.I never forget the bowling hearoics of Walsh and Ambrose. well that is history. i will be delighted even bangladesh made it to the final no matter what. being a sri lankan i would love to see sri lanka play Aussies in the finals but i do not mind any asian nation doing that.its not patriotism but pure arrogance and ignorance we must defeat. on the otherhand cricket is a great leveller and mind game. May the best team win!

You ve lost the plot Mukul.Poor start and a indeed a poor ending. The rest of the stuff was too common and ordinary. One more thing in this article you didnt right click on your mouse for synonyms.:-)

I agree with Krishna. This piece is not quite as rich in its texture as the previous two. The previous articles combined the strengths, weaknesses, idiosyncracies, history, and prospects of the subject team into a very delectable offering. This one is kind of uni-dimensional...there isn't that richness to savor, that complexity to disentangle, that subtlety to applaud, that edge to intrigue (and drive many a poor soul to the brink of incoherence in framing their responses). Mukul, like the Indian team will surely be asked to in the coming weeks, I ask you to dig deeper. We want the magic, even if it brings the worst out of some of your readers. Cheers!

Mukul: what's the whole point?. Every team in this competetion can fancy their chances on a given day(other so called "extraneous" factors not withstanding)

it is enough for a team to get their acts together for couple of months to lift this trophy.
what set australia apart was that, they maintained that standard since 1999 in both forms of the game!

Good article but its ruined by the ending. The winners of trophy should be entitled to do what ever they want with the trophy and its unjust for you to criticize their religion and their beliefs. If India wins this trophy, what would they be doing when they return home. Would they take it to a Hindu temple along with their entire team and be blessed? Or have they all been westernized now?

As a Sri Lankan Buddhist I commend you for your article. I agree one hundred percent around your rationale about the non Buddhists in our side, to bless the trophy, or indeed the team, smacks of the very same pseudo nationalistic/religious bigotry that we as a nation need to move away from.

C.Mallawaratchie – To suggest that the author is trying to create tension within our team is absurd, if you, like me, have had the pleasure of reading Mukul’s blog over the last few months surely you’d be able to see that his opinion is consistently presented with grace and tact.

Krishna – “u seem to have written this in a hurry.very poor and abrupt ending.what about the weaknesses of the team”
Surely you see how ridiculous your statement is given the way you yourself constructed your post?

Good article.. Go SL go. SL should win it.
hey roshan, is it you from forumhub?

Mukul, I think your blogs are intended by you to provoke some reaction. I would like to think that your intention is to make people on either side of the issue you are raising air their views. If so, there is nothing wrong with that. I think it is good for promoting mutual understanding, be it on the subject of Lara's eleven dwarfs, or SL's breed of nationalism. So, you need to be commended for your blogs, however controversial they might turn out to be. (BTW, the eleven dwarfs haven't done too bad... huh? May be you provoked them... if they read your blog, that is. May very well be that that was your intent).

To understand Sri Lanka, you have to live amongst Sri Lankans... and not just for a short time. Looking in from the outside, it all may seem some form of nationalism that exalts a dominant faith. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In SL, followers of different faiths are known to participate in each others’ religious ceremonies. It is just a matter of relative degree (of participation). If there is one country in this world where religion is not divisive, it is likely to be SL.

The reason for this is that SL is truly a multi-cultural and multi–religious country. There is no jingoistic separation between ethno-religious communities. In my view, even the so-called ethnic problem in SL is not so much an ethnic/ religious/ cultural problem as a geo-political and economic one. That statement may well be controversial by conventional wisdom.

I very much doubt that the non-majoritarian members of the SL team, Dilhara Fernando, Arnold, Vaas, Murali, Maharoof, and others, would have a problem with monks blessing a World Cup. I doubt they (or non-majoritarian Sri Lankans) would view it as a dishonour to their collective effort. It is just a simple practice that expresses a simple faith... and faith need not be religious. In fact, it is likely to be more cultural than religious. (Those who are closely associated with the country might agree it has nothing to do with religion despite the involvement of monks).

It is certainly not an exaltation of a dominant faith. I do not believe that the dominant faith would have a problem if one of the minority faiths (Hindu, Catholicism, Christianity, Islam) would also want to bless the World Cup. (I would not be surprised if they have their own separate ceremonies that do not attract the same publicity. I would be very surprised if they are in any way prevented from doing so).

Like I have stated, you need to live amongst them. Do not look upon them through the lens of the much-ballyhooed ethnic divide (if that is what you may well be doing). If you do, you are likely to misconstrue many aspects of life in SL.

To suggest that it dishonours the collective effort is in my view a gross misjudgement of the Sri Lankan context. There is likely to be no such issue in SL. A problem arises only when we misconstrue their context... and make wrong conclusions about them.

There is nothing wrong with people anywhere in the world expressing their simple faith, beliefs, etc. so long they are not practicing them to the exclusion of allowing others to practise theirs’. I doubt this might be the case in SL.

Thanks for that Mukul. It's nice to see an Indian put aside his heart and write with his head for a change!I strongly feel that Sri Lanka can lift the cup - they've got the experience, some world-class players, an aggressive captain and coach, and, most of all, they are 100% fit - thanks to the excellent Australian physio that we have.I've already put my bets down on them. I do tend to agree with parts of your comment about the Buddhist clergy and all the song and dance that's made. Unfortunately, we don't live in a country like India, which values the diversity of it's people and respects that right. We are going deeper down the road of majoritism, due to the "frog in the well" attitudes of the majority of our politicians, who'll do anything to stay in power. All we can hope for is a just peace - Inshallah!!

I appreciate your comments on Sri Lankan team. But I'm really disappointed with your ending. This is a country where people from all the religions and ethnic groups enjoy equal opportunities. Nationalism is not in Sri Lankan dictionary but Patriotism is. We all treat everyone in a equal manner. Blessing by Buddhist priests is like a part of our culture rather than a religious thing. Do you know that the team was blessed by other religious priests once they won the world cup??? All the players in the Sri Lankan team are united like brothers regardless of their racial differences or religious differences. We love Sri Lanka. We love our society. We don't need a divided society. Please be careful when you write something because without knowing you may spread hatred. We know a lot of people want to damage the image of Sri Lanka. Don’t be a part of them because their intention is to destroy this beautiful country. Please show me another country where minority is treated better than in Sri Lanka. I hope you will study the facts more than this before you write something next time (not about cricket). Please don’t bring these topics to Cricket World. Thank you.

Like said before, I think its a very good article and the way you have talked about Sri Lanka, being a Indian is a breath of fresh air. But I definitely don't agree with the ending of the article, and thought it was very weird and unnecessary. Murali and Vaas are of Hindu and Christian religions respectively, but have been in the team for a long long time, and I'm sure they thank their own gods and pray to their own gods, but the blessing from monks is tradition and something that Murali and Vaas and the other non-buddhist members in the team obviously respect. Therefore I don't see a problem with it. A very good article, but a feeble ending!

well said. but should have left religion away
nothing to do with game.we love our cricket and
players not worrie about other matters.

Sri Lankans love their cricket and play it with a typically Islandish flair and passion. Every boy between the age of 5 and 15 plays cricket with his mates either on the street, neighbourhood ground or even on the beaches. I repeat, everyone. We play the game for its sheer entertainment value as much as we play it for winning and losing. As a result, the team-spirit is very apparent even in street cricket. Very rarely you will find any grand-standing by any particular bully among the boys. You can see this in the national team as well. The giants of the team, Jayasuriya, Murali and Vaas are some of the humblest cricketers in the world. Though they give their heart and soul to the national team's cause and play with a lot of national pride, none of them are paid multi-million dollar ad contracts. As a result, the fans are also very appreciative of their effort and nurturing in their support. Very rarely you will find public outcry against a capatin or the team's performance. Regardless of Mahela's bad form at present, Sri Lankans are very supportive and sympathetic towards him. They persist with their faith in him. I think all these elements somehow have a sobering / relaxing effect on the way the Sri Lankans play their cricket for what it is - after all a game. If I may say it, they are sort of the Windies of the 80s with respect to popularity among other cricket fans, especially among other South Asians: The 2nd favourite team after your own national team, though the lankans are nowhere near as dominating as the 80s windies. But this underdog tag makes them even more appealing to cheer for.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE:

For those who have visited Mukul's previous topics might remember that I have been a very emotional, biased and unashamedly nationalistic supporter of Sri Lanka. So much so that I got some heat from Aussie bloggers for my biased comments. As such, I don't think any one here would question my patriotism.

What you may be surprised to know is that I am a Hindu Tamil born in Jaffna - the hotbed of Tamil Nationalism and a region that is currently being carpet-bombed by the SL Airforce. I am also of a personal view that the Sri Lankan state and a disturbingly large section of its buddhist sinhala majority are hell-bent on preserving and projecting the sinhala-buddhist hegemony over other communities and religions - using whatever the state power they have, military or otherwise. But that is a different topic for a different audience.

Having said that let me share my view on Mukul's provocative final paragraph.

I don't think there is any thing wrong with the custom of having buddhist clergy bless the team on its departure as it is "a part" of the traditions and faiths of the people and a large number of its team members. But note that it is only "a part". There are other traditions and faiths in that country, namely Hindu, Christian and Moslem traditions, representing 30% of the population and, more relevantly, almost half the team. For a diverse country such as Sri Lanka, a country that is in the middle of a bloody ethnically and religiously charged civil war, team members and authorities should be extra sensitive and be more inclusive in carrying out such religious practices involing cricket, a game that is widely considered as one of the few unifying elements left in this beautiful yet cursed country. If for nothing else, at least for the symbolism it represents. The minor matter of a multi-religious pre-departure ceremony would have gone a long way towards further uniting the country and its people to come together to support its most representative and united entity - the national cricket team.

Instead the authorities and the government choose to conveniently ignore or (refuse to invite) the Hindu Priests, Christian priests or the Muslim Clerics to such events. Chaminda Vaas, a christian, has gone on record about his disappointment over this topic. There is an unverified rumor that Dilshan (originally a muslim) converted to buddhism to be better recognized by selectors. And what is even more disturbing is that there are a few sinhalese brothers in this blog who would rather defend it as the right thing to do since Sri Lanka is a "majority buddhist" country.

At this hour, when fellow tamils are being indiscriminately carpet-bombed out of their homes by the almost exclusively Buddhist Sinhalese SL Army, I am digging deep into my sense of patriotism and brotherhood with my fellow Sri Lankans (buddhist, christian and moslem) to forget our differences in supporting my country's cricket team in the WC and to whole-heartedly rejoice in its success. To this end, Seeing Sanath being blessed with Vibuthi (Holy Hindu Ash) by a Hindu Priest similar to how a Hindu Murali was blessed at the airport by a buddhist monk would have been heartening and gone a long way in healing my wounds. Instead comments from fellow Sri Lankans on this blog claiming that Sri Lanka belongs to only the Buddhist Sinhalese or that an exclusively buddhisht ceremony is acceptable, goes against all that the great religion of Buddism stands for and makes it painfully disappointing to read. Somewhere deep down... it hurts and leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Somewhere deep down I fear that such comments would deny me the "absolute" joy and satisfaction that I want to feel if/and when Sri Lanka lifts the WC in 6 weeks. Somewhere deep down, it reminds me of the reality that was eloquently summed up 25 yrs ago by one (in)famous tamil rebel: "If JAYAWARDENE was a true buddhist, I wouldn't be carrying a gun".

Oh well...what the hell...I love my boys who are fighting the battles in the caribbean. I love sanath, vaas, murali, Chamara, Sangakkara, all the same. They played on the streets I played and they played the school cricket I played and they also cheered the school teams that I cheered....and they love the country that I love. So what if my captain, Mahela, shares the same last name as the president who ordered his thugs on my people to kick-start a bloody civil war in the name of buddhist sinhala pride?!

I may not ever consider him (JR JAYAWARDENE) even as my president, but Mahela JAYAWARDENE is my beloved and favourite captain right now and I want him to win more than any one else.

My fellow Sri Lankan Cricket Fans...I am rising...trying to rise above our differences...help me...and help yourselves...to rise...if for nothing else...for our proud boys in the caribbean who are unitedly playing for all of us...and the world loves them for it...so, let us not embarrass them with our petty differences and spoil the coming moments...lets savor them...another world cup is 4 yrs away and who knows how many more wars we would fight among us in those 4 years

Another day in Paradise isle for a hopelessly idealistic Sri Lankan!

Mukul, your article was very encouraging to read, especially as a Sri Lankan. However, I do not know why you had to change track and bowl a bouncer at the "strange" practice of taking the trophy to the Buddhist clergy. Do you expect the Pakistanis who are openly religious on field to do anything less or anything else? Buddhism is Sri Lanka's majority religion and most of the players are very definitely practicing Buddhists. Some are not. Have you seen at least three of the players signing themselves with the cross before they bowl / bat. What religion do we think Maharoof comes from? I am not a Buddhist, but I think your comments are a little distasteful. I am quite happy to read your blog, as it is perhaps one of the better renditions in todays criscket blog world, but this time you bowled a bouncer, perhaps a beemer! Sorry mate, i thought I had to say it.

nice post Mukul.

Subjectively i wish for a Sri Lankan victory.But if i also be a total alien, i wish the WestIndies win it.think WestIndies are the most modest and humble nation when the fans and player both considered.They TOTALLY enjoy the game, dont worship the players.

About the latter part about the religion. I don't see anything wrong with that blessing.It only made the occasion little serene.Its a tradition and Kovils and church in sri lanka dont mind it...
Term >>"majoritarian Sinhala Buddhist state" came from reading some bad new papers i think.U should read the facts and dont believe some crap shown by media.

Nice post anyway...

Now lets look at the downside of Srilanka. A Jayasurya who can be planned out. A captain woefully out of form. A pace spearhead in Vaas who is much older than what he was eleven years ago and nowhere as good. A master spinner- again who was a mystery eleven years ago, but whom people have learnt to play safely for about forty runs in ten overs. Against any team that has a balanced attack the current Sri Lankan team will struggle. As for the beauty of hitting, give me the west Indians or the New Zealanders any day. Even Indians like Utappa, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Sehwag play more attractive cricket. With Bangladesh playing the way they have been, I have the suspicion that they will be in the super eight this time around- at the cost of Sri Lanka. Just like Lara and the ten dwarfs may end up walking away with this years world cup.

It's very refreshing to hear from a non-Sri Lankan, that we have a chance at winning the trophy..and especially surprising since he is an Indian. True SL -Aus final would be the the best ever.. but realisticallly lets hope SL can make it so far...its not that i dont think v can do it but we don't seem to be consistent enough thats probably why v start off and the fade as the tournament progresses...having said all that SL rocks....and i wish them all the very best!

Well ! Mukul your sentiments are respected and as a Sri Lankan & more so a cricket buff , I too believe that the team has a chance of going all the way but the captain needs to quit talking and start performing , himself to achieve that . However I do believe that your remark on the buddhist clergy and all that was uncalled for .

nice comment
ya in the paper SL is the most dangers side in the word cup.
but still they hv to prove it.

Be informed and educated Mukul before pouring your prejudiced, ethno-centric vitriol on to an article about cricket. Going for blessings from the Buddhist clergy is not a chauvanistic act of ethnic domination as you seem to imply, it is an act of faith. You should also know that many team members visit Kataragama for blessings regardless of their religion, as it is the most sacred Hindu site in Sri Lanka.

If you look at two of the biggest stars in SL cricket in Murali and Sangakkara, they are both "hard core" Tamil and Sinhalese respectively, absolutely proud of their cultures. But unlike you they do not see it as a divisive element, but a combined collective strength where the weaknesses of one is covered by the strengths of the other. It is this spirit that invigorated and sustained the team throughout Murali's chucking controversy with Ranatunga putting his career on the line for a bowler who was only average at best at the time. It all finally culminated in the 96 world cup where everyone, but most of all the aussies, found out what being a Lankan was truly about

A well thought article.How ever a asian conventional idea has come to the end of the article.Try to understand the different cultures.Whatever they do it is according to their culture.Ever body every where does that.If one can understand that and give the due respect to others beliefs world will be a better place to live.So cheers to Sri Lanka team.Thanks Makul for the good comments

What else can one expect from the guy who has been praising the logic of taking Kartik to the world cup (leaving out guys who have performed well there in the recent past like Kaif, or even guys like Gautam Gambhir who on his day can take the fight to the opposition). Ah yes, the Sri Lanka team would give the view of a fast Fernando or Mallinga being despatched to the boundaries by batsmen of all test playing countries.

Great article.
I do not know why a couple of people have tried to correct Mukul by stating that India did not bat first in the 1996 semis. Mukul has not stated so in his article.
Yes, Sri Lanka for the World Cup.

(I had actually said in the original post that India had batted first. Some kind soul at Cricinfo corrected the howler in response to comments that spotted it. I should have indicated that a correction had been made. Apologies. MK.)

Sri Lankan's, the team with genuine smile and talent is the team for watch. They play with style and elegant. You will not see stressed and serious faces like Gangully/Dravid or tired and weary face like "Mcgrath" in energetic and enthusiastic Sri Lankan squad.
Its packed with big front guns of Jayasooriya, tharanga combination follows with class of Sangakkara and Mahela...
Spin wizard Murali and temperd Vass will give sleepless nights to opposition teams.

All and all Sri Lanka's is the team to watch. The team that bring smiles to genuine cricket lovers if forget mere patriotism...

You dont have to be nationalist to say that India has a very good chance of going deep into the cup and probaly lifting it as well.SriLankans are a gud team and more so on paper but there bowling sans Murali is vulnerable.Lasitha is erratic, Mahroof at times pedestrian, Dilhara is good but will they pick him? There support spinners are still unproven.

A martian would... not know about cricket. Just a thought...

As a Sri Lankan, I've said it many times and I'll say it again: this is the best opportunity for us to win a world cup since '96. In '96 no one gave us a chance in hell of going past the Quarter Finals, let alone win the world cup. We did it then and for the time since December '95, I feel that we have the team to repeat it. Ranatunga expressed similar sentiments recently when he said that if we didn’t this time around, then we’d have to wait a long time for world cup success. Not for the first time, Arjuna is correct.

That said, I was really peeved by the last comment on your article, Mukul. Now I am not a religious person - and I find it funny that I am actually arguing in favor of religion - something I've always been against - but the comment showed that you had little or no understanding of the traditions that have become enshrined in Sri Lankan cricket.

Granted, Murali, Mahroof, Vaas and Dilhara Fernando (the latter two are Roman Catholics) subscribe to different faiths, I think (and hope) they'd be the least worried about what post-victory celebrations would be like back in Sri Lanka. The English cricket team got drunk and were paraded around London for winning the closest (and arguably best) Ashes series in recent memory. We ask our monks to bless the team after a significant victory. I see nothing wrong with that.

To finish off, I suggest you write an article on India’s ridiculous over-hyping, deification of their cricketers. A country of one billion that resorts to mass praying for success in the world cup needs to be explained to the rest of the rest of us, lest we think that this future super-power takes simple escapism a bit too seriously. As a social historian, I am sure you'd do a better job writing on that than pass half-baked, slightly ignorant comments on your neighbor.

You might also be interested in knowing that both Marvana Attapatu and Malinga are Buddhists. You article also missed out in mentioning the two most prominent Christians in the squad.

Apologies if this comment seems to be written by one who is irritated, but your conclusion was written out of ignorance and I had to point it out.

The rest of the article was beautifully written, if somewhat repetative, based on a similar sentiments you expressed in another article.

Fare analysis except, perhaps, your personal opinion on religions place in sport. Sri Lanka is the most diverse team no doubt in that; distinct personalities of contrasting religions unconditionally respect each other and battle for the glory of one Nation. I think it’s the humility of the Sri Lankan personalities on the world stage that makes them amicable to ‘an alien’. That’s my reasoning anyway. However, no team should take this characteristic, attitude, trait lightly, if you do, you will not know what hit you. I hope anyone except Australia wins. Ideally a sub-continent nation or the Windies!

As a Sri Lankan, I thank you for those benevolent sentiments. I only wish you had thought more carefully about the ending !
It was almost as if someone else had written the end, why bring race and religion into one of the only things that trancends those terrible barriers that continue to haunt our country.

Very nice of the article writer being an Indian to be honest about his thoughts. Being a Sri Lankan I am a bit more skeptical. We are a great team no doubt but we dont have players in the middle order who scares opposition bowlers. Sheer image I mean. Take India. You have Yuvaraj & Dhoni. Take Pakistan you have Inzy & Yousuf. Take Australia you have Symonds & Clarke, Take New Zealand you have Oram & Maccalum. Take England you have Peterson & Flintoff. Take South Africa you have Boucher / Pollock & Kemp. We dont have those kind of known hitters to send jitters down opposition bowlers. Where we will do well is if our batsmen put up good partnerships with decent strike rates and Sana plays a cameo at the top we will almost always win. What we lack is the ability to win games from the middle order. This is an area which if exploited will put us in a lot of trouble. Anyhow the mental strength of the team is such that they may even chase a 400+ score to win. Hence its going to be interesting watching my country play.

Very nice of the article writer being an Indian to be honest about his thoughts. Being a Sri Lankan I am a bit more skeptical. We are a great team no doubt but we dont have players in the middle order who scares opposition bowlers. Sheer image I mean. Take India. You have Yuvaraj & Dhoni. Take Pakistan you have Inzy & Yousuf. Take Australia you have Symonds & Clarke, Take New Zealand you have Oram & Maccalum. Take England you have Peterson & Flintoff. Take South Africa you have Boucher / Pollock & Kemp. We dont have those kind of known hitters to send jitters down opposition bowlers. Where we will do well is if our batsmen put up good partnerships with decent strike rates and Sana plays a cameo at the top we will almost always win. What we lack is the ability to win games from the middle order. This is an area which if exploited will put us in a lot of trouble. Anyhow the mental strength of the team is such that they may even chase a 400+ score to win. Hence its going to be interesting watching my country play.

Congrats to Mukul on his objective assesment of the Sri Lankan team! Although I would love to see India repeat the derring-dos of the Kapil Devils, I have no iota of doubt that the Lankans are going to lift the Cup this time. If some rationalistic being, devoid of nationalistic anaesthesia, can ponder the following points, arriving at the obvious conclusion wouldnt be a difficulty:

1. Sri Lanka's exploits in Australia during their last successful tour made the Aussies(I still remember the massive six the newcomer Kapukedara clobbered off Brett Lee in Sydney)shudder at the looming threat of Sri Lanka winning the WC--07. Hence, they came up with a deliberate and desperate ploy to take the steam off this World Cup by going down to England and New Zealand in a string of unusual defeats. This prompted the least-intelligent Cricket pundits, mostly Aussies, to go to town with the slogan: "This WC is OPEN to anyone, as Aussies are on the wane." Not surprisingly, they found quite a few 'experts' to parrot the Aussie-engineered tom-foolery! If my imagination is not running riot, I have little doubt that the move to keep Brett Lee out of the WC too was strategic and calculated, knowing fully well that there wouldnt be sting in his deliveries in the Caribbean, as they do in English and Australian rubberised pitches. Those apart, the uncharitable and unprecedented remarks of Martin Crowe on Murali's action, a couple of weeks before the WC, seems to be handywork of the Aussies. Luckily for the Lankans, the smear campaign did not generate the desired result.

2. Everybody in India believes that India defeated Sri Lanka in their last tour. On the contrary, it was Sri Lanka which defeated India by lulling us into a complacency. For instance, the Lankans, without their two main strike bowlers, restricted us to an average score of 250. Again I may sound bit wild. I strongly believe that the four main Lankan batsmen got out cheaply in all their outings to prevent us from getting any practice of chasing a score excess of 260 against their bowlers. In doing so, they also derived the richest experience of making their 'lower order' come up with a decent fighting total. When it came to bowling, the Lankan bowlers employed a faulty bowling line to give us false confidence and hope. This they did not once, but twice(in their previous tour too)to lull us into absolute complacency, as they are wary of our batting strength. In fact, the Lankans were planning against us ever since the WC schedule was announced!

If you find my thinking naive, please hold your breath till March 23. I know I am ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!

Excellent article and fully agree with your final comment. But then again, if the Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka did not get involved in cricket and politics and did what they are actually meant to do (mundane things like preaching tolerance and helping us rid ourselves of hatred), Sri Lanka would not be in the mess it is in now. However, we are more likely to win the World Cup than than reforming the Buddhist clergy. What is that about power corrupting?

Despite being a SL fan I think 7 other teams also have a good chance at this World Cup. When too many people back one team they get it wrong. In 1996 only Sir Richard Hadlee said SL will win the cup - nobody else did.
It is unfortunate that a religeous twist has being given to this article. If one comes to a national event in SL you will find all 4 religions (Buddhist, Muslim, Christian & Hindu)given equal prominence - because we are a secular country. If Mukul saw the 1996 WC being blessed by the buddhist clergy (may have been given the 1st chance as 70% of the population are buddhists)he forgot to continue watching - to see it being blessed by the other three faiths!

Thanks Mukul
As a indian he proved SL Team is the most success team to handle Australia / SA / WI Teams.
By the way good luck for Indian Team also...

I think what he tried to show us is how four different players from four different religious background could still play as one unit for the country; Murali (a Tamil/Hindu), Farveez (Muslim), Atapattu (I think he thought Atapattu is Catholic but I don't think he is and in the event Atapattu isn't Catholic, he should/could have picked Vass or Arnold to make his point) and Malinga (a Buddhist/Sinhala).
Very well done my friend for posting this, especially as an outsider he claims he is. Because no matter what other narrow-minded people would say, even in year 2007 the truth is it is hard to separate state from religion, your personal beliefs from your political affiliations, your ethnicity/race from your everyday life affairs, such as the job you possess, people you hang out, and yes sports from your religion/ethnic/racial background !
Believe me; a multiethnic country like Sri Lanka which has been involve in conflict for decades, if not for centuries, needs a sporting event like this at least once in a while to reunite its citizen under one flag, one team, under one country (isn’t it true that even Prabarkaran horary for the Sri Lankan side when we won the World Cup in 1996?? isn't it true that when the Parkistan visits Sri Lanka some Sri Lankan Muslim fans support the Parkistan team??).
I mean think about it, I bet around 75% of Sri Lankan cricket fans who is going to watch this World Cup have not been to some parts of this small island in their entire life time !! When are you going to see an end of the Guerilla war?
So once again, my gratitude goes to this Indian who had balls to say what finally needed to be said; two thumps up for you brother !! Be this sport event become an eye opener for the country that is so divided at least for one day (hopefully that day be the Saturday April 28, 2007 !! lol What a New Year gift that would be for the country if our team able to lift that World Cup one more time, right??)

I was over the moon when Sri Lanka won the cup in 96. It was the first time a team had opened with 2 pinch hitters. It was exciting to watch.

One thing I will never understand however is how so many people drag politics and religion into cricket... or sport for that matter. Honestly who cares? I for one do not, what really matters is how you play and results. What the players would like to do is entirely up to them.

Whatever happened in the build up to world cup, When Sri Lanka moves in to a big occation, You could always expect the unexpected. Every player in the team lifts their game up, that on a given day Australia is no match even to a week team in the tournament. They have got the best balanced bowling attack and if the middle order is upto there full potential, WATCH OUT,...

For A Right SRI LANKAN Victory...

Good article, Mukul. But even i feel like many others here that you should have reviewed their weakness as well. Or, correct me if am wrong. Do you mean to say SL has no weakness at all ;). And Anand Sharma, you give a complex to even Ms. Ekta Kapoor

Sri Lanka - Probably the best bowling outfit. (At least on paper)
Think about it -
Vaas & Murali are truly special, i dont think they need to be discussed, Lasith Malinga - even though can be erratic can also be devstating brings a dimension to the bowling attack that sri lanka never had. Mahroof if he performs to potential can be a dangerous late order slogger and useful bowler. Add to this Jayasuriya's capability with the ball and you got a great bowling attack.
The question is will Sri Lanka's batting click? If they do, Sri Lanka is going to run away with the world cup.
Having said that, this i believe is going to be a closely contested affair and the front runners are - Sri Lanka, South Africa, India & of course Australia.
By the way Pawan - Nothing justifies the way the Indian fans behaved in the Semi Final of the 96 world cup. It was just not right!!!

Your final paragraph took the gloss of the whole comment. It was heartning to hear all the praise about our team from an alien but the last bit was totally unnecessary.
GO LANKA GO!!!!!!!!! U CAN DO IT!!

All of us know that Sri Lanka is not going to win the world cup this time. Get real. They are really entertaining on the fielld... much like portugal who are an excellent team to watch, but world champs this time, they are not. Even India is much stronger than them. I bet west indies makes it to the semis and possibly beyond.

what was that about the ending?? totally out of context, and doesnt do justice to a fairly done article... as a critic of u, after the rubbish u wrote about windies, take it as a compliment. Windies Feilding was a joke u said?????

as long as we win the world cup, am sure the non bhuddists in the team wouldnt mind one bit.....

Sri Lanka is in a very good position this time since they have 4 top class run scorers from last year and 2 exprienced bowlers.Sri Lanka have peaked up at the right time and would be a major threat to the Aussies. The middle order clicked right on time in the tour of India and this is last chance for Sri lanka to win the title for another couple of years and this is a very balanced squad and as a Sri lankan support lets hope for the best!

In 1996, we were real underdogs! Nobody even
talked about Sri lanka's chances, other than a
Sri Lankan. Things have changed during two past
world cups.　
As I believed in 1996, I believe we have a
great chance to get to the final and lift the
world cup in 2007.
For that everyone has to perform well when
needed. Everytime Jaya can't win matches single
handed. We need to have plan B when A does not
work. Although most people did not give due
credit to Guru at that time, someone has to play
his anchor role. Who is going to be the anchor
this time or different anchor everytime?
We have a real balanced bowing with Vass,
Malinga, Murali, (+Jaya and Dilshan -
allrounders). However, the middle order is not
solid like 96. So we have to add allrounder like
Arnold and Maharoof as insurance.

The Sri lanka – India match in the first round is
the key match that we can predict chances of Sri
lanka to win the world cup. If Bangladesh does
not make an upset, the points of that match will
be carried to super 8, making the task easier to
get to the semis.

We should not praise Sri lankan team too much.
Sri lanka has won when they were called
underdogs or in tougher circumstances more
often. When they are together as a team with
self belief, they always can win now. This
mental toughness is not second to even the
Australian team.

No matter it is a real praise or a backhanded
compliment, we should know our strength and
weakness. Although we are a multi-cultural team
and a multi-cultural nation, if we play as a
team with different roles for different
individuals, we can win.

i feel mukhul kesavan is flattering sri lanka in order to tarnish buddhism exists in our nation ,most people like him trying to single out sinhala buddhist customs as sort of religious oppression.if such exists vass & dilhara won't have a chance to mark the Cross before bowling.Even ceremony of blessings by buddhist clergy involved other clergy too! so to speak think about india's so called secularism before preaching to others.

I do agree with article but not with the ending. SL has the best balanced team in the world. Very good openers, middle order back to foam, very good wicket keepr, powerfull bowling attack, best spinner by distance,one of the best bowling attacks, very shrewd captain,very good support bowlers. Lots of experienced players. A good genuine fast bowling allrounder (Mahroof). The best opening fast bowler in ODI"s. Well what else you need. I think srilanka is the clear favourites on paper, but cricket is a very funny game.

i agree with kesavan and NON VEGETARIAN.

The blessing by the buddhist monk should be allowed ONLY if other religiuous gurus were to be present to appreciate the existence of other religions in the team and in the country.

it just goes on to show the dominant mood of the Buddhist Sri Lankans and goes a long way to explain the civil war.

anyways, GOD (Allah/Shiva/Buddha/Jesus - hope you get the point - they are all ONE!) bless SL and may they win the WC!!!

i think there are many many chances of winning th WC for SL....; considering there recent form.
In to my mind the only GAME recent they need to consider is the game on 23rd.
If they get through it...thats it...I don't think Australia or South Afria is a problem for SL ...especially in carribean picthes

i predict that india and bangladesh will qualify for the super 8s!!!!

"If you find my thinking naive, please hold your breath till March 23. I know I am ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!"
Anand, if we follow your advise we won't be alive to witness this amazing prediction! LOL!!

Hey fellow Sri Lankans and cricket fans. Which forum do you guys use to talk cricket? After the TMS board shut down I've lost touch with all of you. Are there any good forums that you use? Thank you.

your comments reminds me that recent Gavaskar's post on 80's west indian team, truely we loved the way they play and wanted to see W. indians holding the troopy if Sri Lankan's out of reach of winning. Seems such a positive image is creating around about the way Sri Lnaka Play the game, welldone Sri Lankans. go and get Australians.( becouse no body enjoy the way they play the game.)

I see where you are coming from 'Pawan' - because I don't think that any nation is greater than the sport, I therefore, would have no issue insulting the sport itself by supporting a nation. A very well constructed argument. And by the way, did you read or did your band-wagon patriotism prevent you from reading and understanding my post?

SL won WORLD CUP in 1996. Can you analyze the situation. SL were 4points on the opening ceremony when the WC commenced. And SL performed in QF and SF which is a kinda Knock out. In realtime Lets see if SL can perform in Super Sixes or Super Eights. WC96 is just a crap with just a fortunate day turns to party. My comments abt WC96 is that if SL played the games against aussies and Ambrose driven WI in either India or Pak due to security concerns, SL shouldnt have even lifted the CUP. SL must be happy with the fact they tour WI when Ambrose and Walsh retired, else those both can break the complete batting backbone of SL. Sri Lanka now got the right stage to prove they can compete. they must justify their triumph is no fluke in WC96, take 2003 Super Sixes, SL had Zimbabwe, Did they win against Australia or India. take Semis, all believe they are the only team who could overcome Aussies, and what happened? Oneday game is 75% team work and 25% luck. Luck will not always turn fortunes unless you make comtributions. else SL or any team other than Australia can hope for rain or D/L rules to increase their furtunes. Beating aussies once is not a landmark. competing them at high level is what is required. i think SA or NZ have good chances

Srilankan Fans, concentrate on game and teamwork not on pitch conditions. OK. Good Luck for you. its not SSC or Premadasa Stadium with Srilankan umpires officiating the ODIs

Lanka should win the WC easily - The other teams are either too over-rated or are jus gona choke as usual during the cup. WI, Eng an India r a disaster waiting to happen an SA and NZ are too over-rated and Pakistan are jus in a total mess. Only da Aussies ave da potential but they havent got a decent spinner though I expect Hogg to claim many against Scotland and Holland. Common sense ses Lanka should win the cup but in ODI Cricket anything can happen - doubt it though.

Yeh your right SL look good on paper but they'l have to prove it on the field though I expect them to win their group quite comfortably with probably the Bangladeshi's beating the Indians as the 'surprise' of the tournament. In the Super Eights SL should then defeat NZ, WI, Pakistan, England and South Africa and I'm expecting an Australia - SL Final which should be a classic (the two best teams on paper facing each other). Howvever, as I stated this is all on paper and SL will have to prove that they are the worthy Champions. Should be great viewing.

As I have said in many other blogs on this site...This wc is a very long one, one that will test the professionalism, focus, deficiencies and even the "Plan Bs" of the teams in case of injuries. Yes, luck will always play a big role but to a lesser extent in this one. But not many teams have all the above mentioned attributes to survive through the six weeks. Australia, SA and India are the most balanced and have the fewest of holes. SL has some gaping holes and I am very concerned that the big guns will easily exploit those during the super 8s. We better fill those holes as solidly as possible and as soon as possible.

Cheers
Suku

please delete my signature in my previous posting. I'd like to keep writing as "non-vegetarian third party" ;-)

Hi

I would like to commend Mr Non- vegetarian third partys comment as one of the best I have read this year. As a fellow lankan i really liked his words and his passion for the country even in the midst of all this killing and sadness. The country need more people like this who support it even when its at its lowest and keeps willing it to have better days and futures for all its commnunites. Keep it up Mr Non Vegetarian!!

Its a shame to bring religion, race, politics to this game. These are the only reason why other countries beat us Asians. The writers who have played their part on promoting them are a disgrace to the society.

Coming back to Cricket. Sri lanka has a chance to win like the other eight countries. The beauty on this world cup is there are No clear favorites. Sri lanka could go all the way if the top 5 players fire. Have to say the form of Mahela is a worry. He is one weakling in this team. Also I dont know how Marvan can fit in to this side. He looks to me a real passenger at the moment. Malinga is a powerful weapon. Using him properly could break or make the Bowling attack.

May the team that plays best cricket win!!

Dear Mukul, you have refreshed the thoughts of a big cross section of readers.We appreciate your article and I appreciate our Sinhala,Tamil & Muslim brothers who take sports and the country before any nationalism. Events like World Cup 2007 will definitely bind us together as ONE COUNTRY ONE NATION and we will determin to walk forward hand in hand for the progress & well being of all Sri Lankans regardless of their ethnic or religious diversity. After all we are Sri Lankans.....Thanks Mukul for bringing this enthusiasm among all of us. We wish Good Luck to India & the other sub continent teams too ...

What a wonderful write up by our Indian friend.Just to share a thought I've been having for quite some time ....in my opinion Sanath Jayasuriya should be named "The greatest One day Cricketer of all time !"..(just compare his allround capabilties & stats).

Also this majority religion intimidation should be done away with ...there's no denying the fact that this exists(unfortunately in our Sports as well as day to day life).

Shehan.

Nice comment Mukul but sad ending, but then thats the whole problem with us Asians, we cannot keep our eyes on the ball we have to stray and spoil the whole effect, you would not be remembered for you fair comments but for the "relogious comments". A piece of advise, DON'T GO DOWN THAT SLOPE.. ITS VERY VERY SLIPPERY...

Srilanka -- the winners ? Oh Mukul cmon....There should be some logic behind it....They are the team who win against minnows emphatically, their players have great outstanding records against minnows (443, 398 etc), their greatest offie bowls more against Zim and bangladesh than India or Australia.....To Vaas the keeper stands up to the stumps, their new face is at max a multi coloured haired blonde who pays more attention to his hairdos than line and length....The likes of Bandara or Arnold or Dilshan are expected to strangle Indians ? Oh cmon, get real.......SL might have won in 1996 but they won on default in the semis, dint play against Aus and WI as this 2 teams forfeited the games, unfortunately the rules of the tourney allowed them to win,else they were not the deserving winners.....

Batting : Their captain is out f form, he hasnt got a 50 in last 20+ inns, the in and out opener Jayasurya is no longer the threat he was in 1996 ....He blasts few 50s and 40s quickly and then again 100s against minnows........Last quality 100 for him ? way back in 2004 against India......Look at their record against minnows as compared to other teams like India or Australia...In bowler friendly conditions, the batting fails.....Against quality teams SL fails.....(1-6 and 1-2 defeats against India, 0-2 defeat against Pak in SL, they even lost to bangaladesh in 2006) ? Only bright record...5-0 win against England and few emphatic wins in Champion trophy against minnows (again)........

Srilanka are good for minnows world cup, they wud win hands up by breaking all records in bowling and batting, perhaps vaas would bowl them out for 1.4 overs with figures of 10/0.....Or Murali wud bowl 10-10-0-6 against any minnow or for that case Vaas would take triple hattrick , Sanath would score 200 too, but with good opposition, this team wud be ripped......Put Zaheer, Ajit,
mcGrath, pollock before this minnow bashers.......And you would know where SL stands

Interesting article. As for the ending of the article, it has nothing to do with cricket, and i believe there is a traditional send-off ritual done in all major relegions in Colombo before such tourney. Any Colombo dwellers can update us based on local media reports?
This SL team is good; my money is on Sanath, Chamara and Kumar. And if there is an option to make Mahela play as a 'non-playing captain' i would like to see it happening..

I listened to the interview of Sangakara too with Sanjay and it was one of the best I have heard lately. He was fluent, smart, composed and knew what he was talking about. I agree that Sri Lanka is one of the favorites but I have 4 teams before that. My favorites in order are, India (Yes, being an Indian my heart will always be with them), West Indies (If not Sachin then Lara should win the Cup once), South Africa (It seems its there time but I am not sure if they are good enough for West Indian pitches), New Zealand (I always liked their team) and Sri Lanka...

Shehan has never seen any matches from his comments that sanath jayasuriya is the greatest oneday star of all time. look the runs and ave for jh kallis. i dont think jayasuriya is closing in on him. Beware srilankans, when Murali is gone, you will find it hard to win in your own backyard with International umpires officiating tests. MURALI, the one and only match winner for Srilanka outside subcontinent. rest all are subcontinent lions but cats outside subcontinent.

It was interesting to read Mukul's article and the comments afterwards – especially by the large number of Sri Lanka’s who responded. To start off, let me state that I am Canadian, Buddhist and originally from Sri Lanka. First on cricket. I think Mukul is being a bit charitable to Sri Lanka here. Yes, Sri Lanka does play entertaining cricket, but so does the current Indian team. For example, take the last India-vs-Sri Lanka ODI series. Indians played much better and more entertaining cricket. On average, they batted better and bowled better. If that series is any indication, I would take Indians over the Sri Lankans to lift the cup, come April 28. To win the cup, you need very strong middle order batting and I feel with Yuvraj and Dhoni, the Indians have a much deeper batting line up. Although India does not have a bowler of the stature of Murali, their bowling side is not chopped liver either. The biggest worry for the Sri Lankas must be the form of the captain Mahela. If he repeats what he did in South Africa in 2003 World Cup, Sri Lanka can forget about advancing in this one.

Now on to the very last bit of Mukul’s article, about faith, Buddhism and cricket. I feel that he probably was not aware of the cultural subtleties of the multi-religious society that is Sri Lanka. If he had lived there, he would have understood that it was just a blessing, nothing more – nothing less. I don’t think anyone in Sri Lanka would take that action as trying to impose the majority’s religious view on the non-Buddhist team members. Most important events in Sri Lanka start with a religious blessing and being a country with a Buddhist majority, these are mostly Buddhist prayers. However, there are many events, where when other religions are present, non-Buddhist prayers are also offered as a blessing. Sri Lankan national team probably is the most diverse of all major cricket playing countries. I have read about Vaas and Dilhara who are Christians and who does pray before every match. I don’t think anybody in the country (officially or unofficially) that has objected to that practice. Murali, a Tamil, is a national hero and so is Sanath, who is devout Buddhist. Cricket, in Sri Lanka is one activity that race or religion does not enter into the equation and I am certain that it will stay that way. In that sense, cricket offers the rest of the society very nice example of how things should work in a multi-racial, multi-religious society.

@Anand Sharma - You have a very vivid imagination. When Sri Lanka loses miserably to India on March 23rd, you will come up with another conspiracy theory - that Sri Lanka is planning to defeat India in the next World cup and this is all practice for that.

As an afterthought,I realised that you intended(at least from the initial paragraphs) the article to be not a team analysis,rather why you would like them winning it.So,I take back my earlier comment on the need to analyze weaknesses.However,apart from Sangakara and a couple of lines about their bowling,the rest is just a mundane team analysis-which any educated cricket fan knows.Your article seems to predict that they would win rather than why YOU would want them to win,unless of course,you want them to win simply because they can be expected to win!! As I said before,creative writing suits you better than analytical/logical writing-stick to it.Here you have been caught between the two and the result is a khichdi-not bad but definitely not good.
By the way,i wanted to know if i can comment in Tamil,as in tamizhla ezhuthalaama??!!

Sri Lanka will definitely come close, as will India, but I doubt their ability to turn it on when the pressure really is on. Plus, the great thing about this World Cup is that it is bringing us an assortment of wickets designed to test various strengths and weaknesses. What if SL and NZ face off in the semi on a wicket that has plentiful bounce and seam? Would ppl be so sure to pick SL then?

I think the winner of this World Cup will be the team that has the best balance, and doesnt over-rely on one or two individuals to get the job done every time. And from this, I am thinking SL, AUS and NZ as my contenders. South Africa dont have a strong spin option, and India are caught a little short on pace (tho I could be proven wrong quickly if Zaheer and Patel get their act on). But NZ have a great pace attack, along with two superb spin options in Vettori and Jeetan Patel, and SL are balanced with the pace of Vaas and Malinga, and with Murali and Sanath's spin. As for Australia, never write off the wounded lion...

I know that you deliberately include inflammatory remarks in your writing and I tried to keep an open mind. However, your last paragraph is very biased and shows how little you know about Sri Lankan culture apart from what you hear through the media. There are NO religious problems in Sri Lanka, so don’t create any. But there is a so-called ethnic problem which is really a political problem as Johanne rightly pointed out. There is no hatred at a personal level (from personal experience). Please stay away from political issues no relevant to cricket, but it you don’t then you have to allow both sides of the argument, not just the side you are sympathetic to.

For example, you allow Non-Vegetarian Third Party to refer to the Sinhalese majority indiscriminately carpet bombing tamils. As a Sri Lankan Buddhist, I know this is not true and it’s very offensive and hurts me greatly. However, when I mention that the north of Sri Lanka is controlled by a group of terrorists claiming to represent and continuing to persecute the tamil people under their control, it gets censored. Mukul, don’t use your personal bias to remove only some of the offensive comments. Don’t use your articles as a political tool.

And to Non-Vegetarian Third Party, your fellow Sri-Lankans are not saying that an “exclusively Buddhist ceremony” is technically “right” because of the Buddhist majority. They’re saying it is understandable because you are more likely to see the majority ceremony than the minority ones. It's a fact of life. It’s not a huge issue. Would you be happy with 1 Hindu, 1 Christian and 1 Muslim ceremony for every 7 Buddhist ceremonies? I hope so.

But the cricket team is above these issues and it is obvious that the whole country has always supported the team as one and this will continue to happen.

Even though I disagree with some of Non-Veg Third Party’s post, I admire your passion. Keep posting!

To Non-veg, sarath, and a few others.

Thank you, guys, for sharing a little bit of what it's like to be cricket fans in Sri Lanka. Sometimes I forget that some of us have the luxury of taking peace for granted, and some of us don't -- sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be one of the former. And I'm amazed at the resilience of the human spirit that allows those of us who live in times and places of genuine strife and danger to still have a place in their lives left over to be passionate about something essentially meaningless like cricket.

Non-Veg...back in our last discussion I still think you were attacking the Australians (team or people? I guess the former) rather than being analytical of sledging and/or racism in general terms, but it seems to be fashionable at the moment to do that so I can't say I blame you. I take your point about regionalism rather than racism (and I think you made it well), though I still think a white person would find it a bit hard to get away with the same kind of comments. Sorry to bring another blog's discussion into this one, but the other one is buried now -- not that I can remember which blog it was in anyway!

Again, thanks for sharing your perspective, and for loving cricket despite there being so many more important things to worry about. Good luck to your team/s and may cricket be the ultimate winner!

Interesting article, but I honestly fail to see as to why Sri Lanka is a superior team from the characterizations of the players the author has offered.

Thanks, to the journlist who created this chimera.To think, sri Lankans can not beat India without mercurial Aravinda! Yet its facinating to read this article, specially when its from another Asian,let alone from Alian.
But evaluation itself has some nasty insinuations,
that the writer puts, any "Martian" would pick sri Lanka.It proves he has ulterior motive to demoralise Lankans.Do not forgetIndians are so inconsistant when they play out of their country.But they may find Lankans worse rival
than their arch rivals,Pakistan.Nobody has to worry about Bhudhism,since Lord Bhudha was born in India,yet most of their countrymen worship sacred Bovine-Bull.Belive me, Triple gem would bless Lankans as long as they beleive it.We dont need any astrologers from India.And Ponting and Shevag, are no magicians,yet Sanath and Sachin are.So be prepared for some fire works!

It's emotional analysis in adoration of fellow Asian team that shows every bit professionalism in ODIs. But there is no evidence of batting depth going into WC. It's an unsettled team, just like India. SL could turn around during WC, but defo not a favorite on current form.

Good description of the Sri Lankan team. There's one factor missing that nobody seems to have cottoned on to yet, and that is sheer bloody mindedness.

As much as I like Mahela's team, it is not a patch on Arjuna's because Arjuna's team had been through the mill prior to World Cup 96, and emerged stronger for it. The tour of Australia, with its controversies (the chucking issue tends to overshadow the ball tampering allegation that marred the tour before it) and the hostile reception of the crowds, brought the team closer together and fanned the flame of desire in their souls. They wanted to win the World Cup and exorcise those memories, and through guts and bloody mindedness, they did it.

Mahela's team is far more talented on paper. Three mainstays of the 96 team are ready for their swansongs (Sanath, Vaas and Murali), for the first time the team has two geniuine quick bowlers (Malinga and Dilshara), some young batsmen that other teams will underestimate at their peril (Upul and Chamara), and old reliables who know the one day game inside out (Marvan, Mahela and Sangakkara). What they don't have is the attitude that Arjuna and his team had. People like Arjuna, Hashan, Kaluwitharana and even Dharmasena, were cussed characters who were ready stand and look their opponents in the eye. Mahela may have the inner strength to do it, and in Sangakkara he has a gunslinging deputy, but they don't have that core of fire needed to win at all costs.

I still hope it'll happen. But I doubt it.

"Valavan" i just want to asked you what country you come from?, do you know about cricket?do you know how hard to play cricket in a country like sri lanka due to lack of funds, no bats, balls, pads, so please do not think australia is the best, the got money to make any bad player to good player, so please take off your 1996 world cup cpmments, i will turly happy for what mr Mukul Kesavan wrote.

Great to see these comments. For me its Sri Lanka who needs to win this world cup. Sri Lanka has a good balanced team at the moment. Major concern that I have is about the Sri Lankan middle order. Chamara Silva should definetly included to the side for all matches. Thats my personal opinion. Sri Lankan team should have a person who can hit big hits when ever it is essential at the last few overs. Russel Arnold by his nature, he's not a good option. Middle order should have a batsman who can consolidate and be dominant in the game. Middle order should remove the burdon on Sanath, Tharanga and Sangakkara. They should play their normal game. Once they failed middle order should be powerfull to dominate the game. The other main concer that i have is about Mahela Jayawardane's lack of form. If Sri Lanka needs to win this world cup he should bounce back as he did in England tour.

When we take the worldcup shedule it is a huge tournamant. Every team has to play with almost all the other teams. So performance of the one or two batsmans will not be sufficient for this. The team who can have a overall performance can win this world cup. So every one should play match wining inings. For Sri Lanka , if they can make middle order steddy and effective, they have the best mix in this tournament. But we cant forget the other teams. India, Austrailia, West Indies would be tuff oponents. Specially India... I would like to see a India - Sri Lanka final and Sri Lanka wining the trophy and Sanath be the valuble player again. Every thing depends on the Sri Lankan middle order.

I too like Sri lankans to win the world cup 2007 but Indians are also a good and well balanced side they too have a good chance so it will be a good contest between both these sides

Sri Lanka possible is the only truly multi-cultural, multi-ethnic nation on earth. It is interesting to note that 5 of the top eleven hail from a 25% ethnic minority.

Here in SL almost everyone takes part in and observe each others religious festivals and activities. The whole of Sri Lanka sees the temple of tooth relic as a national symbol and respect it. The catch phrase is religious coexistence not tolerence. Mere tolerence sparks tension, where harmony rules out any such.

Besides the cup was blessed by delegates from all major religions observed here not just Buddhists. The bottom line is SL has found perfect unity in diversity and this fact makes the cricket team that much more a cohesive unit in combating any other force. If not SL may any other asian team win (sp. India)

YOU SHOULD KNOW THE FACTS BEFORE YOU SPEAK! The World cup winning team was blessed by all religious leaders in 1996!!! And thats who we are, we respect our nationality, our religoion, our traditions and our values. It applies to everyone, not only the Buddhists.

INDIA INVESTING BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF RUPEES FOR THEIR FAVOURITE GAME(CRICKET). SEE WHERE THEY NOW IN HOCKEY? EARLIER THEY PREDICTED EVEN ASTROLEGERS INDIA IS GOING TO WIN MALAYSIA CUP AND ICC CUP. AFTER HICUP AGAIN THEY ARE TELLING THEY ARE WINNING THE WORLD CUP. THEY ARE THE WINNERS OF COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENTS. THEY ARE NUMBER ONE AND HUGE MONEY EARNERS FOR ANY PRODUCT IN ADVERTISING GAME NOT IN CRICKET. WOLRD'S ONE OF THE POOREST COUNTRY HOLDING NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND SAYING WORLD'S 4TH LARGEST ARMY AND STILL CANT CATCH MAN WHO ORDER TO KILL RAJIV GHANDI. OLD DAYS WITH THE HELP OF HANUMAN MANAGED TO BRING SITA.

A great article. I am Australian with an English mother and a Sri lankan father (ex Sri Lankan cricketer Tom Deen). I have always held a soft spot for Sri Lanka and I absolutely love its culture and its people. The team is a unique talent of individuals and I cannot wait to see them in the final and win it! As for the religious aspect, I believe if people express thier faith through sport it is part of life. I am sure each player, irrespective of the collective faith of the majority of the country would not be offended even if they were of another religion. The only reason I say this is from the limited knowledge I have of these players and their backgrounds, they seem to me like a close family with mutual respect for each others customs and religions. Maybe we could all learn something from this! As for Sangakkara, what an awesome cricketer and a future gem for the team. It is good to hear of cricketers who have the ability to articulate themselves amongst the myriad of players in the world who can barely pronounce their names. Sri Lanka vs OZ final with an English umpire. That covers all bases for me.

brainy martians....

This seemed to be a poor article in several point of views. Why don't you talk about the weaknesses of SL team. In particular, SL proved to be poor while chasing a big total (if Sanath goes cheaply). SL have won only 9 out of 38 when chasing more than 275. We have small grounds there and big totals would come more often. Why don't you talk about the strenth of the other team like SA or NZ.

Hey Guys,
This is a free world and Mukul has had his say.
He is entitled to his opinion not only on cricket but as well on the cultural side of SL.

Sure the article has been well crafted to create controversy so he could sell his books.
All this creates fun, interest and excitement and thats what cricket is all about about.

I think the West Indies are going to win the World Cup. In fact I am very so very certain about it. They are going at $9.00. Take my tip.

Enjoy the world cup.

I think it is a very good article, potentially Sri Lanka can win this world cup provided their batting clicks. The weak link, for that matter the two weak links are the captain and the former captian. We all know what Jayawardena is capable of but unfortunately he has been failing. Coming in at no:3 he needs to be rock solid to counter either one or both openers failing. If the openers fire everything is fine but if they don't and the captain get out cheaply too then Sri Lanka is in deep trouble. In this scenario the full wheight falls on the shoulders of Sangakkara and the middle order.
The next obvious weak link is Marvan, now he plays in the team primarily as a batsmen. So we and the team expect good scores from him not the twenty's and thirty's he is scoring right now. He doesn't bowl and he is not a Dilshan on the field anymore too.So his contribution to the team as a batsmen is way behind what is required. True he has done yeoman service to Sri Lanka cricket but this once in a four year cricket extravaganza is not a farewell tour either. Does he deserve his place in the team on present form is the million dollar question. Mahela as the captain will play and to be honest he is good at it too. So hopefully he gets back in to form. If Chamara Silva, Dilshan or Arnold doesn't find a place in the team to accomodate Marvan it would be a tragedy.
Another toss up is between Kulasekera and fernando. Fernando may have the speed but Kulasekera or Bandara are more economical one day performers.
As closing words i would say this Sri Lanka team has it in them to win if they select the right team ( out of the 15 in the Windies ) on the day. They are brilliant fielders, have a very good bowling attack and great depth in batting. Hope and pray the captain picks up his form on time.
Lets forget the religious comments and talk about cricket

Why do we see lot Indian supporters trying to take the lime light away from Sri Lanka. I have noticed this on most of the forums.
In paper India is better than Sri lanka. Actually they are better than any team for the last 10 years. The difference is that they are only good in paper. They will only win either in India or in online games. SL are real bunch of fighters. They play better cricket in reality. For all the Indians who where trying boost about India here as soon as India looses they criticises them in the same manner. Come India !!! winners of all world cups in paper!!

Nice Post Mukul. I'm predicting a great tournament and probably Bangladesh knocking out India which wouldn't be a surprise. SL and WI Final Cannot Wait!

Dilhara Fernando needs to step up now. He's always had the potential to be one of the best with his height, pace and strength but injuries and poor discipline has hampered him but this should be his time. Chamara Silva also looks great when I watched him in NZ with his 152* so there seems to be strong back-up players for the Lankans as well as many World Class players in the starting eleven.

Cant wait for Indians to chocke against Bangla

well well its all about beleives and blessings. c'mon guys there is nothing to with the clergys blessing because every time we depart to play a foreign country we get this kind of blessing and it is not mean that we are going to win. but it is ndeed a mental strength we gain. so we must appreciate that.
any way thanks to mukul the way he stress out the point.
why i like the lankans best, though being a lankan, is that when its come to one day cricket there is always some sort of business going around. even ICC is earning load of money doing some disguised gambling. so the sri lanka is the team who changed the cricket the way it was played.
with the trumpet tearing the sky, shouting and blasting of jayasuriya... then dont forget the percy running around with the flag. it shows the patriatism. so just forget about the religion and lets enjoy the game as a unit.
talking about team, still i can't beleive in mahelas performances. sangakara is shadowed by mahelas winning habit. if you see the last 15 games played mahelas record is the worst as a captain next to smit of SA. so they are getting away with team efforts.
we always had good australian physios. and we are very greatful for the australian in many ways b'cause they not only destroyed our spirit, but they are the one helped us with a negative psycology. then the doctors to prove muralis actions, now the physios to keep lankans fit.
lets enjoy the game as it is and lets us support all the team and keep the spirit going rather fighting about religion and beleifs. because cricket is a funny game.

excellent blog to start
nicely realated with objective openions.I too love Sri lanka,they had their good and bad times..
But the statement about Majourity buddhist state is little bios.well it is little ok in compared to the comments of Carpet bombing was exhagerated..we should not spit our personal hatreds in blogs.

Comon Mr.Jay,
Dont bluff. SL should play and win matches to prove their ability. indeed WC96 SL got 4points without ... playing. are they scared to stage those games in INDIA or SRILANKA if you know that PCB asked to host those matches if security concerns for Aussie or the WI. But SL rejected, How dare points to be awarded biasedly when two countries fear to come due to blast. I remember, Central Bank blast on Jan 30 1996, and how a team could come to play. Fair policy should be there. You can have fortunes like D/L methods or so , but its absolute rubbish to award a team with winning points when the visiting team has the justification for their worries. And dont come and say me about SL umpiring and I know it. After neutral umpiring, say me how many test series victories do SL have in Srilanka. England,Pak,Aussie,SA routed SL after this. Where did all your sportsmanship went when you wanted only to break test record in Premadasa Stadium by scoring 1000 runs. And do you know how many times Jayasuriya was out during his process of 340? if two bad decisions by an umpire is acceptable, But not 6 or 7. Is this u wanted to say your sporting spirit. Ok Subcontinent guys, why u struggled to win a test in INDIA if you are experts in sluggish pitches or slow turners? Mahela hit 370 and 250 in tests in SL? why he cant do that in INDIA, WI or PAKISTAN or even BANGLADESH where u say you are experts in slow turners. Answer me Mr.Jay

Refreshing perspective to say the least.My heart is for India but my head says their track record overseas is not very comforting.Despite 3 top order guys with 10k+ in ODI's no major wins abroad since 96 with exception of one Natwest.
Not sure one can agree with Murali being easy meat for the Indians-pl check the stats and you will see India always struggles against this gentle giant.

Guys,
Comon,
There is a PAKI guy saying that INDIA cannot win, PAK abilities are not certain and since all you guys wants an ASIAN somehow to win. :)). Its a kind of bluff, India wants SL to win rather to see PAK win. Pak wants SL to win rather to see INDIA win. Good politics. in the middle some Perera is talking about unwanted politics. I cant understand one point. Why u all think that what IND, PAK or SL can do is difficult for others to do? SA won in SA, so you want to say SA cannot win outside, you know SA has the best ODI record in ODIs in WI. Pakistan lost not only to SA but also to ENG, now against WI. Take SL, they drew the oneday series in NZ, lost in IND, lost against PAK at home. What IND did won all at home, lost all away. IF SL or IND or PAK(doubtful) can win, then surely ENG, SA, WI or NZ also can win. Go and perform man, prove what u can do? rather building toomuch about ur past glories

i was quite touched by the article. no matter who wins the cup it nice to see that someone who is not a sri lanka thinks that we could win the cup. but its sad the way he had ended the article. when sri lanka won the cup in 1996, we celebrated as a counrty from north to south. there was no separate religion or ethnicity. we were one nation united by the cup and i think i was one of those rare occasions that we did celebrate as one country. cricket has the effect of doing that, it has the power of bringing people together. so if we win the cup we will rejoice together regardless of religion or ethnicity and if we don't we wait and hope for the next world cup. because hope is what makes sri lanka survive, even after more that 25years of war we hope for peace one day........... and one day we will have peace just like we will win the cup some day ................

till then enjoy the games

With all due respect, I can't find a single reason for SL to win the WC if your prediction is more out of technical/statistical aspects than of emotional/passion that you have for SL team (I admire the reason you gave for your favourite cricketer. Its because someone has good English vocabulary, in that way i would prefer Mandira bedi as my all time favourite cricketer;) for different reasons though). I believe you are bewildered between the pseudo-patriotism and the spirit of the game. I certainly am not considering India as the sole favourite but its a side which in all respects is better capable than SL. I am not sure how far is the current SL composition is different from the team which went for a mauling in Taunton, 2k. Jayasuriya, Attapatu, Jayawardane,Vaas, Murali everyone were there too. Talking about recently concluded series in India, I agree the bowling department of SL was a group of chokers (only) because Vaas and Murali were not there. Let me ask a question, if the batting line is same, why couldn't they hit 300+ in each match? If we are talking about a winning team, take SA, they chased a target of 400+ and won the match against the then mighty Aussies.. or talk about Aussies themselves who were the numero until the recent past. Thats what we call winners. Not playing against minnows and coming up with records. Having said all that, i very much realize that every test playing nations participating in this tournament can spring in surprises and that is what makes the proceedings more fascinating. As favourites you may ask, i would prefer Aus,SA, NZ or India to SL. People may point my Indian patriotism but i feel in the spirits of the game a better team should win the game and India is certainly better than SL ;)

Sri Lanka is an amazing team. The flair that they bring to the field is second only to the West Indians of yore. To be fair, whoever wins the trophy must beat the Aussies, and preferably the Proteas too. If India cannot do it, I will be equally glad if Sri Lanka does.

It would be great if Sangakkara could, between matches, provide some lessons in articulation to many of our fellow-bloggers. Boy, some of this stuff is truly hard to make sense of. I must admit there are some very good sensible posts as well. Clearly, the team that plays best on the day will win...so all this is largely a "mouthing off" contest. We will get unexpected results too. Who would have expected NZ would whip Oz 3-0, especially after the way they played during the 3-way contest in Australia a few weeks prior? So I ask you all to chill and enjoy the games :-)! Cheers!

Bermuda will win world cup 2007!!!!!!!!!!!

am in to football;
No waste of time compared to crick WC>but
nice to read emotional posts from all the readers in reply.
Shows there deep thoughts behind the game followers.If they enjoy the game more,lesser the hate mail.

nice post Mr.

First, Johanne: I can completely agree with you about the Sri Lankans. They are an amazing people and the war is more of a economy-related issue rather than an ethnic issue. It's just been misconstrued and taken too far by all the parties involved, including the International community.

Mukul seems to be a typical Indian troublemaker. If you have lived among Sri Lankans for as long as I have, you will know how enchanting they are. When I first arrived here I was dumbfounded by its people and their religious harmony. This is because of the Buddhist general indifference and religious tolerance. And it is those same Buddhists that always get attacked in the end, and with a fast decreasing Catholic population in the island a few years ago, unethical conversions on the part of the Catholics had to be done, to ensure significant support for the Catholic church in Sri Lanka. I, as a devout Catholic, personally know how much religious harmony exists in SL. In fact, there are Catholic priests I know personally with whom I actually listen to Buddhist sermons, which the priest preaches in church that same Sunday!! And the Buddhist priests know this, but they don't care.
If the injured country of SL is to ever have peace, because of Buddhist tolerance (which has been tested lately, because of unethical conversions which I, as a Catholic am ashamed of), Buddhism will have to prevail as the dominant faith to ensure fairness in this multi cultural island. The ethnic country doesn't have anything to do with religion, as it is often thought of.
Buddhism has been in this country for so long, that it is what mainly constitutes Sri Lankan culture.
FYI Tuan Mohamed Dilshan became a Buddhist, because (a) His mother was buddhist anyway, so he wasn't a devout muslim in the first place, and (b) His fiance was Buddhist, and although there are no rules in Buddhism unlike in Islam, to make things easier, he converted.
And also Mukul, FYI, I have personally been amazed, seeing the white bands only Buddhists wear on their wrists, being worn by certain Christian players of the 1996 cricket team. I have also seen them hold their hands in prayer at Buddhist blessing ceremonies.
I have also personally seen, being a foreign media personnel, the cricket team being blessed by Hindu preists and christian priests. I have not (yet) personally seen Islamic blessings being bestowed on them.
So, Mukul, I think you shouldn't talk about things you don't know, randomly and unexpectedly like that. Don't try to cause actual trouble in this country than it already has. In India I know, there are muslim/hindu clashes. The 96' team actually had the semi-final ground blessed by Hindu priests who threw saffron-water all around the ground. The
South Asians are very ritualistic, culturally bound and very superstitious. Sri Lanka is known as a Buddhist country, and I don't see the Indian team (despite Indians huge muslim population) having anything at all to do with the Islamic faith prior to major games. Don't try to destroy the brotherhood that exists among Sri Lankans, (at present only through Cricket). Just because most Indian hindus are racist and arrogantly disregard the historic Islamic population in India, that doesn't mean the same can be said of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has been Buddhist for much longer, and they still have tolerated other religions that any other country in the world has. Even in their history, SL people respected Tamils (like Elaraa). They just didn't like the Tamils because they were invaders, not because they were Tamils. And if you like invaders, you are not normal.
Such a random comment at the end of such an article makes me question your political and ethical views. Makes me question your loyalties and political bias.
It also makes me think of your as a typical amateurish journalist, who likes to stir up trouble by spewing out unnecessary and 'smart-a**' comments.
Jacques X.
Suisse

hi i am mawanella.

one word- Amen!

valavan, who the hell are you? do you even know who good cricketers are? i dont think so, you clearly havent see jayasuriya play.. oh, and yeah, valavan, we dont need murali to win...not like south africa needs your idol kallis to win the matches...in case you havent noticed, and i seroiusly dont think you have, but young, new players like upul tharanga are getting better and we can win any match, sorry, SA fan.. :( . oh, and get a life...

Valavan, hwta is the point you are trying to make? Your incoherent diatribe against the SL team seems to coming from living in the Vanni for too long. If the Sri Lankans win the world cup are you going to choke yourself on your cyanide capsule mate?

Jacques X has written some truth,glad if it lighten up some extremists...

But am sure MR.Mukul did not mean/foresaw any repurcussions when he ended his post stating something he does not know about..But think we also should not get carried away with religious stuff here.
Am a buddhist in sri lanka,but quite contend to keep my mouth shut and watch the game.
Hope SL team can show some ppl wrong and win the WC.
Then all can say Cricket is a great game.

I like your post. Interesting ending. I too agree that it would be nice not to link religion with such sports,... after all - we need our beers during the match. That goes against Buddhism.

I'm not sure which team would become the champions. Austrailia may still be the most balanced/composed side, largely due to their stengths of batting power. They have players in Gilchrist, Ponting etc, who can single-handedly win matches under any condition (just don't forget Symonds, Haydon also). Their bowling seems to be pretty ordinary apart from McGrath, in which case the South Africans have the edge. Sri Lanka possibly equipped with their best bowling attack they had. It's a hugely improved factor compared to what they had in 1996. But the abscence of a genuine world-class attacking batsman in the middle order & the lack of firepower in the lower order may be disadvantageous to them. BUT THE FACT OF MATTER IS IF JAYASURIYA WOULD (I CAN'T SEE ANY REASON WHY THE WOULDN'T) PLAY HIS NORMAL FIREWORKS I CAN'T SEE ANY REASON WHY THEY SHOULD NOT WIN MATCHES, NO MATTER WHO THE OPPONENTS ARE. HE'S STILL CABLE OF DISTROYING/ABSOLUTELY MURDERING ANY ATTACK EVEN AT HIS AGE OF 38. HE MAY LACK THE CONSISTENCY COMPARED TO SOME OF THE OTHERS, BUT...BUT... HE IS MIGTHY CAPABLE OF COMPENSATING IT BY JUST SHATTERING THE DREAMS OF ANY OPPONENT NATION, NEVER MIND INDIA, PAKISTAN OR AUSTRALIA. IF HE CLICKS, MOST OF THE PROBLEMS FOR SRI LANKA WILL BE OVER NO MATTHER WHAT WEAKNESS THEY HAVE IN OTHERS/OTHER DEPARTMENTS. BUT IF HE DOESN'T DELIVER, THE CHANCE FOR SRI LANKA TO CLINCH THIS BATTLE MAY BE QUITE REMOTE...So largely depends on him...

Ur A Star man !!!..we all have our favourites ..you were man enough to admit it

Hey Busters - chayra,
I didnt speak politics here. So you want to say Jayasuriya the best. You can be a die hard fan, but there are many players who can play like Jayasuriya. Indeed he is a good player and i know that. Oh first time i heard that SA cannot win without kallis. OK mate, give me examples outside Subcontinent, how many times SL won without MURALI? Best example - 2002 SL tour to ENG, Murali pulled out after 1st test, 1st test drawn, next 2 England blew srilanka. Now in 2006, Murali was IN and he single handedly won the third match i can say you. and the series is squared. Take Current series in NZ, Murali played the big role in win. I dont mean SL team is inferior but they are not superior than SA, NZ, ENG, WI. what Jayasuriya has done, is done by genius LARA, is done by Sachin, is done by Adam Gilchrist. what makes JAYASURIYA superior than all? You can support your nation, be patriot, no worries but dont think that you can always win. Yo genius, go and win a Test series outside Subcontinent. One of you guys said

" NZ defeated AUS three times, so SL can defeat them"

Agreed

Why u miss the point

" IF NZ can beat the Aussies, why they cant blew SL out of tournament"

Is that impossible.

:)))))))))))). Dont loath simply. I know cricket surely. I have seen Sir Viv playing, Little Master Gavaskar's play as well, Ambrose, marshall bowling,

jacques X,

Dont speak history without knowing it completely abt Tamils. OK

ok guys some of my friends beleive that sri lanka can only win with the minnows or the records they hold is with the minnows.

then again they say sri lanka won b'cause they are lucky they didnt play with major team in '96 world cup. but they forgot that they play the finals against the Mighty australia and the semi against the India in front of a noisy indian crowd who couldnt tolerate the win??.

then right after the 96 world cup they did tour the major countries and prove that they are the capable winners. why dont you go and see the records. i do accept that the then cricket team is not ready to face the bouncy ballers, but no more. they prove that in england when they were very strong.
so if you want to prove a point you have to wait just a month. time will prove. for example the mighty australians played with a minnos their first match still they let them to bat upto 131 runs but sri lankans restricted within 100 runs. its prove that they are better so far. so why dont we wait for some time and lets start to ponder.
guys please start prejudice and pull the religion to the game as we always looked sports as a team rather than religion. this is not only in cricket. when susanthika ran on olympics we did the same. so please guys dont be racial and dont start racial issues. here also mr.mukul finaly pulled a string to keep this chat live and we all got caught with him and start abusing racially with everyone.

Sri Lanka cricket team is a clear example to the entire world - which reflects the value and the respect we give to inter-racial & inter-religious relationships. At the time the world cup was won by us in 1996 - it was not only being blessed by the Buddhist clergy - but also by the rest of the religions.

I doubt the intension of Mukul Kesavan - by publishing this article. Is he trying to pass a message to our cricket team - specially targeting the non-Buddhists - and destroy their unity in the team? I don't think he can do it... These Sri Lankans are very much intelligent than he thinks...

Good to see a non Sri Lankan savoring the prospects of Sri Lanka winning the world cup. I am in no doubt that this team has the potential to go a long way in the world cup. But at the same time there are a few issues that need to be resolved quickly. Our middle order #%^%^!!!!. A side from the cricket, I do agree with Anil and non-vegetarian. Sri Lanka has to move away from integrating Buddhism into everything. I am not being an anti-buddhist here, but there has to be a limit to everything. We need to acknowledge the fact that Sri Lanka is a multi cultural and ethnic country and the rights of all have to be safeguarded.

I love your article, very rarely do people think the way you do, and i agree entirely, nationalism should be left out. We get into a sport for the love of the game, and finally at the end of it we lose our focus and everything we felt for the came since we have now nationalized it. Ive always loved to watch a good game of cricket. Being a Sri Lankan, I naturally love the team, however my favourite players lie in other teams namely Jonty Rhodes, and of course the great Brian Lara. I love the cricketers who teach us valuable lessons. And i have been waiting to read an article of this nature. It was really an absorbing read.

i don't understand what the hype about Srilanka's chances are . Srilanka are a strong team but their problem lies in their batting which i think is very fragile . If the openers get's dismissed early ,with jaywardane not in the best of form , their middle order is fragile and may crumble . Their bowling is also too dependent on murali .

your sentiments reminisce of my grandfather speaking so highly about the West Indian Teams of old. i grew up listening to the stories of the Great Sir Gary Sobers, Sir Viv Richards etc. but to hear a non Sri Lankan say that seeing the Sri Lankan team makes him smile is probably one of the biggest compliments this cricket team could get. speaking as a Sri Lankan, my people have gone through a lot of hardships and misery during the past few years. our tiny island is still at war, the cost of living is soaring day by day and there still doesnt seem to be any economic prosperity in the near future. But you know what? us Sri Lankans would still manage to go on with our lives. sure we wish our country was a lot developed and we wish our wealth was more equally distributed among our population, but even so we put up a smile on our faces and carry on. cricket to us is our means of relaxation. it is a symbol of hope to those in dispair. it is our pride. it is what keeps reminding us that even though we are a tiny third world country and a mere spec in the context of the entire world (geographical area-wise) our men could bring down the likes of much wealthier, much developed countries. I remember when Susanthika Jayasingha our "Sprint Queen" ran in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Finals, there was not a single asian on the track. She was the only asian among the final eight, and as a Sri Lankan i felt so proud, that tiny Sri Lanka was able to produce an Olympic Bronze medalist in a 200m dash than the much populace asian countries such as india and china. however coming back to Sri Lanka and its cricket, to us, we love to enjoy our cricket, honestly for us Sri Lankans, it really doesnt matter if we win or lose, obviously we want our team to do well, but we Sri Lankans love to see our cricketers play hard and do what they do best... attack, and what is more picturesque than an enthralling square cut six off the blade of Sanath Jayasuriya? i think this team is more focussed on their own talents and their own abilities than being distracted by other teams, this visible change in attitude gives me confidence that this team has it in them to go the distance. We as Sri Lankans are right behind our cricketers and even if we lose, we will still be behind our much loved criceters.... there is a famous saying in colloquial Sinhalese "Newa Gilunath Ban choon!!" translated roughly into english "We keep Partying even when the ship sinks"
that i guess sums up the Sri Lankan common man's psyche....

As a Sri Lankan Hindu Tamil, I agree with Mukul Kesavan’s comment on blessing of Buddhist monks. The game must be free from all kinds of political or/and religious influences. Players could visit their respective religious establishments before leaving the country, but a presumed ‘neutral’ cricket management invites Buddhist clergies for players to be blessed is too much to handle by a non-Buddhist cricket fan.

Well, if a Sinhala Buddhist read above comment, he or she would probably ship me to South India. :)

Thanx for ur article Mr. Kesavan. Nice to here u praising Lankan team. I am a die-hard fan of men in blue.
This is to NORBERT PERERA:
Hey dude, don't deviate from the topic of cricket. If I were to speak about problems ur country is facing now it takes on and on for me to write and days and years to for u to read. Every country has some problems so does mine but that is not the topic of this blog. So next time before u write any thing in any blog, just think of what u intend and if it is relevent in that blog. If u cannot do this.. I have a better suggestion for u.. Plz don't write anything.. Sorry if I am a bit harsh in my words..

so unfortunate that srilankans, though live quite close to india, yet know nothing about the country. Jacques X has said something like - Just because most Indian hindus are racist and arrogantly disregard the historic Islamic population in India, that doesn't mean the same can be said of Sri Lanka. and then he cleverly labels tamilians as 'invaders'! So he must know his history lessons better, THE IMPERIAL CHOLA EMPERORS HAVE CONSTANTLY RAVAGED AND PLUNDERED SINHALA RIGHT FROM 800AD (if not earlier). MUSLIMS ENTERED INDIA IN ONLY 1200AD. so mr.jaq, who should learn to adjust? A muslim in my country has 25% reservations in civil services,mbbs and so many things...well practically everything, right from the captain of the national team to a bollywood superstar to chief justice why even the president is within his grasp. can u say the same for tamilians in yours? i doubt. dont you compare hindu-muslim thing in india with your crap. Anyone who says that they will call thousand year old invaders still as 'invaders' are not 'normal'!as far as mukul's buddhist thing is concerned...well the team itself went to the buddhist shrine on thier own accord, so whats his problem?

dam right, mukul is! sl deserves to win this one, but he need not care what we do with the trophy. my favourite sl cricketer is Sanga, too.
wish the team all the very best in the WC and hoping they can bring home the trophy one more time!
Good luck, guys!

Sri Lanka is the awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sri Lanka may not win the cup because they are yet to be that consistent, but they are good enough to beat any team on their day. And you can be sure that there will be at least a couple of good teams that would have lost to Sri Lanka by the end of the tournament. And they have variety too, with the kind of batsmen and bowlers they have and they do bring a lot of excitement to the game. For a country the size of one of the twenty odd states in the Indian Union, they have produced a fair enough team which is especially commendable in the time of strife. Going back to the 1996 world cup, they were fairly lucky then, but all the winners till now did need to have their fair share of luck. The top four in my view-Australia, India, South Africa and New Zealand- closely followed by the West Indies.

Hey Valavan, tell whats the team u r putting ur money on ?

I think its best if we continue this arguments after 28th .. When world cup is on its way it Sri Lanka in SriLankan airline..

Sri Lanka will definately win CWC 2007. Because their team combine with both experiance and young tallant.

some people donno cricket and i dont understand why they turn up here to post stuff...SL vs Nz in nz last year,the 1st match nz scored around 300 and sl won the match...your rite murali played huge role in it...he scored a century to win the match..hahahahahahah!..dunno cricket then dont speak about it...whatever SL IS THE BEST>>

Sri Lanka's tamil population is only abt 10%. And within such a small population, this 10% is a very small number indeed. Ali, you seem to be suggesting that although in India muslims are able to come to power and become cricket captain and all that, in SL on the other hand such things for minorities are banned by the constitution.
You idiot, in SL no such thing is banned by law or anything. If by democracy these people are not popular enough by the masses, and hence do not get elected into certain positions, that has nothing to with 'Sri Lanka' being discriminatory against the Tamils.
India has a huge muslim population, among such a huge population. 25% is hardly a small number. If muslims were not in a such high positions, human logic has to be questioned.
So I say to YOU: don't compare your country's minority population to Sri Lanka's 'crap'.
And yes, in SL history, tamils (not all) have always been the invaders and trouble-makers, even in the periodic eras when SL was a UNITED country. When India was a bunch of kingdoms and muslims invaded certain areas, that cannot be seen by the presently whole country as muslims being trouble-makers. And even now, they are the irrational side in the process of reaching a reasonable settlement.
Countries have their customs. In Sri Lanka, other faiths are also given their say. Deal with it.

According to my oppinion, Sri lanka, Nz, Australia and SA has a good chance of winning.
And i wish from my whole heart, We, Sri lankans, will win it back and bring it home. then it will be blessed by all the religions... no matter what.
Hurah... GO Lions.. Kick some....

This is a response to Sam, who I presume, is an Indian. I am a Sri Lankan.

So you think Sanath Jayasuriya has not played any worthwhile innings for 3 years, eh? That itself shows how empty your current knowledge is. It was in Jan. 2007 that Sanath blasted a century against the Kiwis in NZ. Then last year alone how many times has he scored 100s against quality attacks? I suppose you did not see his epic century against the Aussies in Sydney in 2006? And you have conveiniently forgotten about the 2 magnificent 100s he scored in England...For Sam, Sanath is only good against the minnows.

Now Sam, let me tell you something else. Everyone knows that the so-called 'Team India' is a myth, a bubble, which is going to burst in a little while when Bangladesh sends them packing out of the world up. And the icing will be when SL beats India next Friday. Tell me who will go home and watch the Super 8? It will be India, Sam, and not SL or for that matter B'Desh. Ofcourse 'Team India' will have one big win aganst Burmuda to take home with.

Do you think India has a real chance? May be if the WC was played at home in grounds like Viskapathnam, Goa etc. Admit it - India can only win at home. When did they last win in countries like NZ, AUS, SAf or even England? I can't remember. Most of Sri Lanka's recent ODI wins have come in those countries and not at home - that's the key.

I really cannot understand what the problem some of you Indians have with SL? I think there are some pragmatic Indians who know that India cannot even come close to winning this WC, and therfore, they wholeheartedly support SL. If SL do not have a realistic chance of winning the WC, I am sure that a vast majority of Sri Lankans would want India to win. That's the kind of commeradre that prevaills between the two countries.

It apprears that the likes of Sam cannot stand this .....

A nice article describing Sri Lankan team weak points & where they are strong. It is always nice to hear our players adventures. We love cricket because it is our soul, our pleasure..There is no more than wining a cricket match…Mukul, you can write anything, but we just focus only about cricket..

cricket fans, don’t hesitate about other things, lets enjoy the game..

Some how or other I like Indians, because we have Buddhism thanks to Indians…

Kesava!

I will see how the martians travel to Jamaica, comes 23rd...

Can I bet you will be there?

I think after the 2matches yesterday. Srilanka have a good chance if they perform well from now on. (having in mind SL vs Bermuda is just a warm up). West Indian Conditions are always rainy. So for any good team you must wish for a good weather against minnow. else everything will decide their fortunes in WC. I have AUS,NZ,SA have very good chances after watching NZ v/s ENG. followed by WI and SL. IND and ENG must perform whole heartedly from now on get some values. PAK is OUT. Idunno how they are going to land in Karachi.

VERY WELL GUYS,,,
NOW some body said that sri lanka has all the records with the so called minows? what happend to those big guns INDIA AND PAKISTAN who were out played by the minnows in a neutral venue with now pakistan is already packing. now you all know that either bangaladesh or sri lanka will be there to represent asia for world cup and definately it will be sri lanka and wait till 21 to prove that. ok guys and take care
bye

As a sports enthusiast first and a Pakistani supporter second; I unabashedly admit that Sangakkara is my favorite player of all. His enthusiasm on the field and a sense of composure he brings with him is simply outstanding. Rahul Dravid for his batting style rather than his captaincy etiquette being a distant second. Ever since Rahul assumed the Captaincy the treatment he meted out to Ganguly was shameful to say the least. Even the Europeans do not treat their ex-captain with such disfavor as Rahul openly did with Dada.

Now I am not totally clear on your definition of nationalism, suffice it to say rooting for the home team is not nationalism rather mandatory. The one thing however, that does not have any place in sports or any other walk of life is the infusion of religion at a public level. Unfortunately, my own side Pakistan is the one guiltiest of it repeatedly.

While Pakistani’s can come across as being silly in publicly thanking God for allowing them to pick their nose; India, meanwhile has taken sports fanaticism to an extreme. Indian TV stations are eager to send reporters scurrying to all corners of the nation covering bat pooja and ball pooja. As if the inanimate object called the man/woman human has little to no part in executing the deadly pooja laden instruments.

Mind you this is a nation blessed with some of the most astute keen minds. India as a nation is making amazing strides towards becoming a modern state and achieving great things. Is there no one amongst the tiny one billion give or take a few million to say enough is enough! It is okay to let sanity prevail once every so often. AMF!

Srilanka should have bowlers to defend targets. when there is no murali. there is no chance of containing. Hope u didnt forget the 3rd final at adelaide on 2006 . Australia knocked srilanka's 280+ score within 40 overs when murali had a bad day in office :)). AA i am putting money on WI and SA. Hope SL will watch the final from Colombo for you dumbers

On 28th April you will see the whole subcontinent bashers will watch the world cup in TV. repeat the champions trophy semis and finals again. AUS, SA, NZ and WI. Good Luck to you all. Pak is out already. India is in trouble. Whack of the third talkatives and bin them.

aussies repeat the Port elizabeth semifinal of 2003 wherever you meet SL.

India got thrashed by Bangladesh. Now what?

this is a cricket forum. as far as iam concerned mukul needs to revise his rules on blog editing. Not only does he has to remove blog entries which slander teams and other religions but also he has to delete entries containing messages which are not in line with the blog posted. as far as that fool(for calling me an idiot) jaques X is concerned, only 1 advise for you. dont use any colourful language like'arrogant hindus', 'typical indian troublemakers' and all that shit. it makes even a sensible guy like me to post things out of the discussion point. well dear jaq, the arguement can go on forever between which country is better at treating thier minorities. everyman thinks he is the perfect embodiement and his country are the best. Looking at the troubles in both the countries from the majorities and minorities, i dont think either goverment is really rocking. So for now lets play it decent...take back what you said on indians and hindus. You can show your wrath on mukul cause he is from mars anyway. I REQUEST EVERYONE TO PLEASE POST YOUR VIEWS STRICTLY ON CRICKET AND PLEASE DONT DIVERT. THIS INCLUDES EVEN MUKUL (FOR LETTING PROVACATIVE BLOGS UNEDITED)FOR LETTING US HAVE A TOUCH OF HIS BAD SENSE OF HUMOUR.mukul, you r so bad at your climax that if you were god, the creation on the last day would have sucked. 'man' would have been the laughing stock of all the animals in the planet. well, thank god!

This Wednesday - Sri Lanka against Bangladesh will determine whom finishes 1st and 2nd Group B. Can't wait!!!

"(The Indian team is particularly bad at dealing with the loss of early wickets: despite the enormous experience and talent in the batting line-up, its instinct is to hunker down like a besieged garrison.)"

On the evidence of the match against Bangladesh yesterday, that seems true enough. It just strikes me that the pressure seems to be getting to the senior players like Tendulkar and Dravid a bit more than it used to a few years back. For example, in the South African tour too I remember quite a few instances when the Indian middle-order just seemed to get bogged down in the middle overs.

It's easier said than done, of course, but it's time for the senior batsmen to get the spark back into their game.

Pakistani Terrorist killed Bob Woolmar:
Its shame for Pakistanis..Cricket is just a game..One can loose too..Bob either did sucide or was killed who knows..b'coz of fear and hatered in Pakistan..They once again found to be terrorist..Time to learn to INDIAN FANS..Cricket is game not a battle

Firstly Kesavan,

Great article..

Sam,

U should go thru cricinfo more.You might actually learn somethin before passin' judgement on otherz so that you ain't gotta eat your own wordz in future. Oh and by the way, the minnowz have to be beaten at least. I do not recall India doin' this against Bangladesh. :)

The Realist,

Great Comment

Nothing will stop the aussie leviathon. The middle order and allrounders are the tools that will bring home the world cup. Australia and South Africa are ahead of the rest.

this thread has evolved ,but its not all cricket at the end.

Nice post mukul, YOur blog is far better than Mr.Iqbal nonsence and fantacies.......etc....

But have to tell you some thing.Indians will choke underpressure, specially in neutral grounds..
SL tour of Ind ,indian players have no pressure and they dont have to create pressure for other team ,cause their crowd creats all of that for them..Team doesnt feel any pressure cause every ball they r cheered by their crowd..(SOme times unndecessory).And this can really backfire.Without their massive crowd support indians will be shocked when they find them selves under pressure..And i think that s the reason theyll choke.Cause their crowd havent given them the chance to really handle pressure on their own.
May b as an INDIAN U WILL NOT AGREE WITH ME.AND U WILL NOT EVEN PUBLISH THIS COMMENT.THAT'S YOU'R IF U ARE BIOS.BUT IF U ARE A REAL INTELLIGNET INDIAN FAN U WILL THINK MORE ABOUT THIS.

and this'll be proved on this 23rd.

nice post overall Mr.

hi Mr.Mukul,
i cant stop resisting this blog cause its much better than some PAK spin etc..
But have to say these things to the latter part.
Buddhism is more of a philosophy and a practice..And there r no extreme rules.and thats why i think theres less conflicts in the Cricket team also.
Actually buddhims originated in INDIA ITSELF.Deep roots of buddhism is in India.Being an indian u should have know about Buddhism more than this.May be u know.....
If u dont u should be with some of the true buddhists in India itself.And am sure your bloggin will improve more in doingso.

Any way keep blogging cause u r blog is the only one thats interesting in the site.

Mr.Mukul,
have to say it man, u got one thing Dead right.Thats about Sanga..He is going to be invaluable for SL.And am talking about the future also.
HAve seen some SL fans going on ABout Jayasooriya,but he needs consistency if SL to stand a chance...(Be realistic plz.....SL wins if jayasooriya fires,But when does he fire??Who knows?????)
And just check the stats.If Sangakaara gets more that 50 runs most of the time SL wins.cause he just dont stop at 50..He goes on ,and may not get 90/100 but other batsmen can bat around him seamlessly.He's like a Banker where every 1 can cash in.If y saw how he helped Mahela to come in to form(85)in the first match, you ll c what i mean.He can inspire others and some may not see it..
Its a doubt weather MAHELA CAN CARRY ON AFTER THE 85,but have to say it MUKUL.....,
BEING AND INDIAN you sure have a balanced mind.. And its great to see an Open mind even if he gets hate mail..

Hi Mr.Mukul,

If we talk about wat happened to India VS .Bangla match the post doen't show up here.Are U cutting down all of them...But U do seem to be a very open minded person...

WEll anyweay ,Luxman Gurusamy, dont bother watching the match on 23rd,U are only wasting your precious time and money.Better go and develop some software back in India.Cause india can win only in Online games and at home grounds with home support...They r going to get some Bashing.OK,back to work now...
Dont Reply. U r wasting U r time man...BACK TO WORK..

To Sam and the Realist,

Well, I agree with “The Realist”, as a Lankan I definitely support my country but am not blind enough to worship them and ignore the other potentials. And I don’t understand what Indians have against SL because if Lankans do miss out we would want countries such as India to win but it is sad that our neighbors have real opposite attitudes towards us.

Recently I was in an Indian blog where they really attacked me when I pointed out the potential of Bangladesh especially after they beat NZ in the warm-up. But as I came to work and logged on, all those posts were withdrawn.

However, as for the religious rituals………. I think I’ll leave it to the officials. Just a small note though, with the whole “majority Buddhism” etc view among the people, it is no wonder that ethnic conflicts in SL has lasted so long. I think we as Lankans, not Buddhists, Muslims, Tamils should rise together!!!

Well, the major difference between Indian & Lankan Cricket fans is that Indian fans “worship” their Cricketers. We Lankans just have the love for the game. A cricketer is a cricketer and is just another human being like us. I was shocked to see the Indian cricket fans after Bangladesh smashed them. The roads were empty and youngsters commenting on the game stated that they felt depressed! They blamed Shewag for not giving them the start and Dravid for not playing a captain’s innings and Agarkar for something and on and on……………… A particular TV network was on the popular streets interviewing the “depressed fans”!!!!!!!

All I would like to say is, it is just another game!! Winning and losing both comes in the package!!

As for Lankans lifting the WC I say they have to be much tougher, especially with teams like WI, NZ and even B’desh with their superb all-round performance. But the opportunity is there!! What I admire most in the Lankans is their “Team Spirit” this lifts the whole game to a new dimension.

Signing off ……….. “Lion Power”!!!

I think what matters most for a cricket fan is the quality of cricket played not who wins the cup. I am sri Lankan but I thought that India has a great chance to lift the cup. But by now India is strugling to make it to the next round after comprehensively beaten by Bangladesh. Sri Lanka will definitely put some fabulous performanes, but any of the big teams SL, IND(if got through to next round), WI, AUS, SA or NZ can lift the game. I will only hope that it's not the Aussies yet again.
As for the blessing from the Buddhist clergy, I think all 4 religions were represented at that occasion. I dont think that any player will reject blessings from any religion at this tense moment. It's an expression of goodwill and support for all the players irrespective of their faiths. It's a part of Sri Lankan culture and critisizing it from outside without proper understanding of that only degrade the quality of your article.

Wow, what a great team SL has for the cup. Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim..... TOGETHER they can bring home the cup. Cummon Boys!!!!!!

A very nice article which elaborates the capabilities of the Sri Lankan players. Gone through each and everything about the players. Kind of a well balanced report after a reseach. Fingers Crossed for Sri Lankan Victory!!!!! They got the Power and they got the Talents!!!!

hello;
its not good that u dont post wats not good to india.
But reality is india will win only in Home and in Online games.They will thrash minnows but cant win without their home crowd cheering for them

well this is for open minds.But hope u will post these stuff also Mukul

No matter about the religion or origin. Because we all are Sri Lankans in one country with Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, etc.. ppls..

We proud about our LIONS.. Go..go..go..go.. and aim to pick WC…!

hi mukul;

Is this thread closed, Or u not allowing comments critisizing india.THere are some point to be told.

India is a strong team..put all their ODI mathces , they have the biggest num than any team in WC........Thats BIG IN PAPER.BUT CAN THEY PERFORM WITHOUT THEIR FANS PRESSURIZING THE OPPONENTS.
india win in india...The Fan factor..other team is constantly under pressure not cause of india,but cause of their fans (Shouting their heads off, and cheering India even for Singles..)
Think PAK won a great series in India under those conditions.
Well Ind have to prove their metal on 23rd..THere also they ll have fans shouting at SL...But conditions are not like Ind. Well C..
won't we?

The writer of this blog does not understand that in Sri lanka Buddhism is not only a religion but a way of life. As the last buddhist nation of the world , our traditions should be kept unchanged. I my self is a devout Christian but I am sri lankan and i will always respect Buddhism as a teaching. Anyway respecting other people's beliefs is what I was thought when i was younger.

Dear Mr. Kesavan

Your knowledge about cricket is just above zero. Your comments about the teams are only bringing out unnecessary inter-cultural and inter-national remarks. You better stop writing articles. You articles about today radio commentary status, etc would be the things that you can go with. I went through Kamran Abbasi's comments. It is all about their cricket also it brings out 100s of comments. Your postings just bring out a few comments and half of them critisizm. So it would be good for you and for Indians, if you could please stop posting your articles.

i bet srilanka wont win this worldcup!!

Yea well the article was pretty good, however I don't see anything wrong with them getting a buddhist monk's blessing. I'm Sri Lankan, but I'm not a buddhist, and I still don't see anything wrong with that. As long as the monks don't interfere with the game, it's fine by me.

I mean I've seen Vaas doing the sign of the cross before bowling. I mean I can imagine why a team would want to give thanks after they won a world cup to a deity!!

Jacques X
Your ignorance about Srilankan politics is very clear. You enbark on a subject you know very little. It may be that your pea brain cannot apprehend the situation in Srilanka. So please avoid making yourself a laughing stock in future.

I really enjoyed the view of Mr.Mukul Kesavan I also red some Criticisms of the article.I belive supporting a sport and the country are two different things. There are many people who support other country, but never reveal. I have witnessed such people. But, I am not that happy about the ending and bringing religion in to this. We have noticed majority of the players always thank god while playing in the field when god things happen. So we cannot take away religion from the sport.

SAM: I think you need to get your facts cleared up. Sri Lanka won the semi-final of the 1996 world cup when India were reeling at 120-8, chasing a total of 251, and the uncivilized crowd at the time decided to riot because of the impending loss. The rest of your analysis was also absolutely baseless.

Mukul: The ending to your article was totally uncalled for. I don't think you quite understand Sri Lankan culture, nor did you bother to watch the WHOLE footage of what happened after the world cup as you would have seen the religious dignitaries from ALL religions present. In any event Sri Lanka is FAR more multi-cultural and secular than India or Pakistan, for that matter, is or will ever be.

mr.Jacques, please you must go to proper school again. tamils are not only the invaders to srilanka, the sinhalese too are settlers from india(orrissa and chola kingdom(kerala). if you know the meaning of library, find the book named ANCIENT SETTLERS AND INVADERS. any londoners visit british library. if you dont know the geological histoy, pls dont comment on any issues. i think you are confused with the political problems in Sl with its history.

Sri Lanka, well done.

Sri Lanka are very consistent in this world cup. Though the batting attack could be stronger in terms of more batsmen attacking on a regular basis, overall as a team, they are in a good position. I'd say they are strong favorites.

Ind-SL semi final 96': India was losing humiliatingly, and the crowd started rioting. They set the stadium on fire and threw stuff at the SL players. The match was given to SL by the match referee when the object-throwing continued.

Religion shouldn't be brought into this. Specially when it comes to a tolerant, multi-cultural country like Sri Lanka. Buddhism is a way of life, and is a large part of national identity and culture.

mr Realist : I dont remember SL beating India anytime outside Asia ever since they won the world cup or even before sparring 1979. SL has won against India only on slow low bore yore wkts of Sri lanka. Rest they have struggled against India everywhere in the world. Now let me put your facts right :

1999 WC , England, SL are world champions then, in shambles, Arjuna the skipper. Need to win the match against India to stay afloat. India on the other side has lost 2 games and has beaten Kenya , to stay in competition they need to beat SL. Azhar the captain. India bats first and starts poorly, ramesh falls soon, but then what happens next ? Saurav and Rahul blast SL for 373/6. SL lose by 157 runs. WOW huge margin na....

2003 World Cup Super Six stage : India on roll. Aravinda playing his last tournament and supposedly expected to rout his fav team India. India bat 1st again and score 292/6 in 50. Sachin fires 93. SL bats and gets bundled out for 109 (23 overs) with Nehra and Sri taking 4 wkts......SL lost by 183 runs again a huge margin.....

England 2002...Natwest series. India wins 3 games against SL out of 3.

Now realist point me games outside Asia where India has lost to SL. In India have they lost ? In Pakistan ? nope except SL india has the key over SL.......

Now yesterday as expected SL bashed minnows Bangladesh by 198 runs. Who scored a 100 ? Minnow man Sanath jaysuriya. He played so many games against India in 2005, 2007. Not a single 100. India is supposed to be his favourite team.

Lets c what happens tomorrow. Mukul you have set a wrong precedent in this blog. if any team has to win the world cup then it wud win for its quality of play and the strenghts and weaknesses, and not because some one gets blessings from a monk or he is a buddhist or a hindu or a muslim or a christian. Cricket is beyond this and please dont mix this.

And as of SL s record is concerned look around in statsguru in cricinfo site, you would come to know how good is SL outside its own country. They dont stand a chance on bouncy tracks where ball does something.

There are lots of occasions which i can put forth where India have hopelessly beaten Srilanka when they had full strength bowling attack. As per you Vaasy and Murali are best SL bowlers right. Now lets c their record against India in last 10 games (Courtesy : cricinfo statsguru)

vaas : 7 wkts in 10 games at 89.

Murali : 12 wkts in 10 games at 30. (India not a minnow)

India scores runs at 5.58 runs per over, SL scored at 5.14 runs per over.

India makes 37 runs per wkt, SL makes 27 runs per wkt.

On neutral venues India has played 23 times with SL, won 15 times and lost 7 times (mostly in Sharjah(3) and Dhaka(2) and 1 England).

Last 10 games India won 6, lost 2, n.r : 2

Now hope that clears who holds the edge and who starts favourite for 23 march game.........Facts shud be right before saying nethin in emotion or josh which can be mistimed..........

Hey Dinakar - U bet Sri Lanka wont win world cup - well i cant comment on that, all i know is they are one of the top contenders.

But i tell u what, I can bet something else,
I BET INDIA DONT QUALIFY FOR THE SUPER EIGHTS - COS SRI LANKA IS GONNA DEMOLISH THEM TOMORROW!!!

hahaha sam,...first why you point out games won by india outside their country last year..it will be jus one or two..most of the time they were thrashed and how could you forget the match in sharjah,i dunno when but sum whr around 2000 -2002 india were all out for 52 against the lankans..lol...!! as if india is good in handling bouncy trackz..we saw it very well in the match against bangladesh..they really did handle it well !!lol..better luck next time ok? SRI LANKA ALL THE BEST FOR TOMORO AND IM NOT SURE WHTHER MUKUL WILL POST THIS...INDIA its really a bad year for you and youl know what im talking by tomorrow...bye.

azx1 hdude, first get your english worked out, then work on your cricket history and then work on your cricket knowledge..And then u wud be a men from a kid and then come down here to post a comment on what you think is a valid post.....Last year India won 4-1 against Pakistan in Pakistan, SL lost 0-2 to Pakistan in SRILANKA...i am not sure even if you know who was the first captain of Sri lanka in tests or ODIs and i think you are not even aware of the legacy of sri lankan cricket, let alone know the timelines for it........Grow up son, first work on English, posting in caps in public forum itself suggests how well you are aware of public manners.....Putting ur views in CAPS is like SHOUTING AND SCREAMING which wont change the facts that SL are only good for weaker teams like minnows, England and now Pakistan. In front of stronger teams like Aus, SA and yes of course India, their batsmen race who reaches pavallion first and the bowlers compete who gives runs the most........Very soon that golden hair blonde is going to suffer what your great bowler suffered in the hands of Ross Emerson and Hair (Do u know what this umpires even did to ur great bowler or wud u still say uhhh haaaa hmmmmm dont know the but sum whr arnd 2000 :-))) )

Mukul you tend to think like a man without boundries.That's a good sign for cricket and society.Keep your good work going.

i think you are day-dreaming sam! take a look @ india recent series loss in SA this prove india is no good outside india on fast bouncy pitches & have no chance of winning even in SL as recent history shows.they cannot beat b'desh even, & it seems u are already frightened of what malinga can do to yr indian b'men who are clearly useless against real pace.lets hope u can get over yr agony asap once SL demolishes india out of the WC tommorrow. oh! for yr info tony greig only was willing to point out one team that's SL as 2nd favourites with aus. & not socalled india "the minnows who lost to b'desh"

Hey Sam you are giving gratuitous advice to azx1 on improving his English when your posting sounded like the ramblings of a half baked vadai seller from Chennai! What on earth does your following phrase mean"their batsmen race who reaches pavallion first and the bowlers compete who gives the runs most" ?? Try going to some night tutory classes and brush up your pitiful English before trying to pontificate to others.Don't lose your sleep on this either as the Indian team wil,be on their way home in a couple of days. Most importantly however, when that happens, feel free to join the thousands of your uncivilised countrymen in pillaging, and attacking the homes of your cricketers as you Indians are wont to do.VERY VERY SAD!!

Mr. Valvan,
In Sinhala, Val means uncivilized. You have named yourself properly. I am disgusted by the extent of jealousy & hatred shown by you towards Lankans. Our lions victory against Bangladesh must have pained you a lot. Unfortunately for you, more misery will follow soon! God bless your weak soul!!

Sam
It looks like you are one of the die hards of inidian cricket. If you had used Cricinfo stats guru brfore inida vs bangaladesh match you would have predicted indian victory, but what happened in reality........ so extenfd the same analogy to SL vs India then you you what....... Any way keep supporting the losers but don't burndown Rahul's palce after the match.

Hey SAM,

Sam man I really don't have any comments for you... There's no point in arguing with your childlish, base-less comments...
On 28th jusy sit tight for a Final between Sri Lanka and either of AUS,SA or NZ...
As for the India.. I really love to see you guys play but They screwed up in the first match itself.. India may have a chance next time arnd when WC returns to Asia.

Hey Valavan,

I saw your posting about Sri Lanka can not without Murali outside the sub-continent.. I agree with you and I beleive there's a single man in each team who can turn things arnd.. For SL its Murali, Vass and Sanath.. for Aus its Adam, Ponting and Lee like wise there are some players from other teams...
I think we all witnessed what happened to Aus in NZ without their top 3 players they lost pathetically.. Even after scoring close to 350..
But I know SL would win the match if they pass 300 mark.. but AUS most strongest team in the world.. Now you see Aus is nothing without their top 3.. So don't single out teams.. just analyse the fact which are freely available in Cricinfo and talk.. And your comments are very amusing cos they don't have any base..
So don't post here anymore.. just go and fly a kite..

Look how IND could make 400+ and win by 250+ and much to their convenience, how BD could lose nicely by 200 runs to facilitate IND to go to the next round? Take my word, IND will win-99% in next game (1% if SL forgot/break the pre-game arrangements); there is a big cricket economy involve here beyond cricket........... Only thing BD needed yesterday was to lose a game with decent margin …………….No way, you can let your opponent bat after winning the toss against SL, whose batting order is one of the best in the world, until you want to donate the run-rate to your opponent! But you can’t blame poor countries like BD or Bermuda, its once in a life time chance for them to get superrich just by loosing a game or so! World Cup Cricket could change the title to World Cup Circus, it’ll still remains WCC!

Hey Sam,

It was really logical and nice how you presented your case with statistics. But when you say 'Minnow man Sanath jaysuriya', I simply call you a 'hypocrite'. You are a typical Indian who never appreciate the achivements of neighbors.

This is how Sanath Jayasuriya scored 100s against other teams:

AUS 4, ENG 4, RSA 0, WI 0, NZ 5, IND 5,PAK 3, ZIM 1, BAN 3, Other 1

Whatever the team who is going to lift WC, sholud be a excellent feilding side.SL has a good feilders & they have a good chance.also NZ, Aus & RSA.If India wants to win the game against SL they have to match that standard.But i'm dought........since SL has a good all round players i put my money to them

I've just read through the whole 'works' Every one of the subscribers has given one team or another some 'eye-opener'. My time has been well spent. Thanks chum; it's good for cricket.

as i said earlier,
now sri lanka and banalians are all ready to prove that they are in with the super eight. but poor indains fans, i fell very sorry for you bcause u always felt that the sri lankans are very good with the minnows and they proved it by beating indians another minnows who cant play against sri lanka on a neutral venue. any how its all just a game of cricket and hope you all accept it as it is and now on get ready to support sri lanka as one of an asian team now on.
goooood luck to sam for his statistics and all those bull----.
and for mr. VALAWA get ready to see wi and australians are gonna cry because the lions from a small country is getting ready to roar..... and more every poor old injury teams are....???

SOUR GRAPES.... TO ALL WHO DOUBTED LANKANS

WA WA WI WA!

Sri Lanka - you did it
I am very exicte.
I like you.
Very nice!

I am a Sri Lankan. It is only a game. Whatever happens please don't harm the players, their families and their personal assets. Indian players have brought glory to their country in the past. It is a joy to watch players like Sachin, Rahul, Doni, Yuvaraj, Shewag, Kaif, Ganguly, Kumble & Co. playing. Support them in their hour of need (they just lost to us a little while ago and may eb they are out of the WC). They will come back good one day. We Sri Lankans don't harm our players when they loose and come home. We say better luck next time. Basically it is a joy for us to see them participating in a big tournament like WC. Winning is good but participating is more important. Sports is all about Participating and developing friendships. Finally Mukul thanks for your support.

SL SHUD BE CALM N BAT WELL>..we bowled well...yay! GO LANKANS!!

To all those fans who insisted that India was the best side despite being beaten by Bangladesh. I think the best team won. You now have 4 years to prepare for the next world cup. Best thing for you to do now is to throw your weight behind Sri Lanka. Sam thanks for all the absolutely one sided stats, where you conveniently left out Sri Lankas sucesses. At the end of the day remember its just a game.

Oooohhh .. Aaaahhh .... Indiaaaaa .....
Too bad guys - This is our world Cup!

Some of you guys seemed to thing Sri Lanka is a minnow basher, well we proved you right by Thrashing all three minnows in our group!!!

Go Lanka Go !!!

hahahahah......india go home...........the indian cricket team joins the WEEPING blue billion.........serves u guyz rite afta all thoze hype created before the match

To all the deranged critics of Sri Lanka (ex.Sam, Valavan etc.)!!!! Cease the jealousy, prejudice and the hatred. Learn to love, admire and respect the worthy.

hi;
well its nice that SL won,am a SL fan anyway.But guys can we plz cut down on the onslaught..Its not good to kick the fallen..And some comments made to some Ind fans are not really touching....

hehe interesting to see what that sam and Valavan dude have to say, now that the pitiful indians have been sent packing home? these two sad souls have epitomised the woeful indian thinking barring that of a few sane individuals. it's quite useless to comment on posts like theirs to be honest. india got what they deserved. hopefully that'll shut the gaps of ignorant die hard indian fans like the aforementioned.

Few weeks ago, Arjuna Ranatunga-the world Cup winning Sri Lankan capatain made a prediction that India is likely to win the World Cup in 2007.
While congratulating Arjuna for winning the Cup in 1996, I feel that he does not like Sri Lanka winning it this year. He is simply jealous. Although he was a good captain, he is very vindictive. Now India is unable to proceed to the Super Eights stage. What is your comment now- Mr. Ranatunga

HOORA for the Sri Lankan team.... there is no better way to shut the idiots than beat them like minnows!!!

and minnows there are....

Sri Lanka all the way......

As Sri Lanka"s influential and brilliant coach summond up "It is not whether India or Bangaladesh goes to the super eight"s,but it only matters of Sri Lanka winning.Yet again it was exposed that most of the Indians relish scoring on flat indian wickets they are home at.Its time to look at youngsters and rewamp with a dedicated coch in the mould of Tom Moody who they refused in preferance to Chappel.

Keeping apart the briiliant cricket of the Sri Lankan cricketers,I am deeply dissapointed with Mr RANJITH FERNANDO,representing the international panel of commentators,and to be true he is the worst in the line up and does not have any credentiols to be on that panel.He is a master repeater of what other commentators say,lacks humor and even knowlede of technical aspects,LBW decesions and even the names of Sri Lankan cricketers(He refers to Chamara Silva as Chamara De Silva),Neither is he fuent or confident in giving a comment and relies on the others who are way above in quality.This giy should be chased out as he is a disgrace for Sri Lnka.

i bet ranatunga will still predict on india hopin bermuda will win....wat a lozer

I totaly agree with the comments of tharanga,The players are in the top of their game and Kumar and Mahela have shown how to handle the media or an interview.

I dont know why they persist with a no show like ranjith fernando,It is a fact that a majority of Sri Lankans switch off the volume on their televisions when this man is giving commentries and he is a disgrace to the high quality international panel.What mr fernando is doing is conducting a language class which non of the the students are listning,He lacks in everything,flow,knowledge,humor,technical aspects,language and whatever you need.Its better if this guy bows out without further embarressing the country.

I think any coach will find it difficult to work with the Indian and Pakistani team due to the influence,politics and attitude of the players,In contrast any coach would enjoy working with the Sri Lankan cricketers because they are simply nice blokes.If you look at the dressing rooms of India and Sri Lanka the body languages of Moody and Chappel shows it all.I also simply agree that even when recruiting india did a huge mistake by going for chappel which guaranteed the best coach for sri Lanka,The Aussies never fear India and they have gone on record of that fact,But they fear Sri Lanka and New Zealand simply because they know and fear of what these two teams could do gainst them.

As for RANJITH FERNANDO,I totally agree with the previous comments,For me its a real nuisanse and a headech to listen to his unconvincing and useless comments and even a Sri Lankan cricket lover would give better commentries than that,Its time you get out without talking bullshit.

I think any coach will find it difficult to work with the Indian and Pakistani team due to the influence,politics and attitude of the players,In contrast any coach would enjoy working with the Sri Lankan cricketers because they are simply nice blokes.If you look at the dressing rooms of India and Sri Lanka the body languages of Moody and Chappel shows it all.I also simply agree that even when recruiting india did a huge mistake by going for chappel which guaranteed the best coach for sri Lanka,The Aussies never fear India and they have gone on record of that fact,But they fear Sri Lanka and New Zealand simply because they know and fear of what these two teams could do gainst them.

As for RANJITH FERNANDO,I totally agree with the previous comments,For me its a real nuisanse and a headech to listen to his unconvincing and useless comments and even a Sri Lankan cricket lover would give better commentries than that,Its time you get out without talking bullshit.

I don't like him either. Being superstitious, I've also noticed that whenever he praises SL performance, SL starts doing bad..wickets fall etc.
But c'mon guys, give the guy a break. At least we HAVE a Sri Lankan commentator. And he's a nice man, though his commentating bugs the crap outta me.

I dont like him either,Look at Sanjay Manjerkar or even Pommie Mbanga,They realy look relaxed and have built up a fan base,But listning to Ranjith Fernando is real stress and you loose interest in the match.I have so often seen that he doesnt know what he is talking about and is unable judge on LBW decesions and repeat what the others in the panel say.He is a master repeater and rides on the good relation he has with the interim committee of Sri Lanka cricket.You get enough commentators who can handle and perform at this level,But this man pushes around with his contacts and talks bullshit as someone said.Yeh,He is Sri Lankan but he is not capable and doesnt deserve to be in that panel.

India had the best lineup in paper and who performs on flat indian wickets.SL also had the same few years back but with the introduction of Dav Whatmore,Jhone Dyson and the masterclass of Tom Moody this has been reversed and SL are one of the most competitive sides whereever you play.I recently read an article where Kumar Sangakkara has commented that with Moody each practice session is differant to another and planned specificaly to improve 0.1% of your performance.Moody has brought a kind of attitude and mentality that you need to win every game and the performance proves what they are capable of.

The Indians seems to have an attitude problem and new guys like Robin Uththapa acts as they are big,So its not worth commenting about the senior guys who rely to stick on their names than performance and person like Greg Chappel who was never rated as a good coach in the state competetion would be a good one in the international scene.The fact that aussies considerd only Moody and Nielson for the post of Aussie coach after the world cup summs up everything.

I dont wont to be lengthy,As for Ranjith Fernando,I agree with all the previous bloggers,He is just not upto the mark and has been a poor performer in the international pannel,Thanks to his contacts with SLC officials.They should kick him out.

Now let all of us support Sri Lanka to bring the cup to sub continent. But please don't harm Indian Players. This is a game not the life.

where is sam??? how your face dude?? what was all that ... you were muttering???

The Buddhist clergy influences everything in Sri Lanka. Liberating the country from them is a task hard to accomplish.

Hey Sam Leave religion out of this ok! as fas as i am concerned you have no right to comment about the religion of my country. If you people cant accept defeat properly then i suggest you dont watch your team play any more.

Sri Lanka Winning – If Mahela Jayawardane comes out of his very long bad patch, I think Sri Lanka has a chance in this WC. They will have to face stiff challenge from Wallabies and Kiwis, of cause.

India Loosing – Well, they learned it in the hard way. You cannot think you can be the champions when you beat SL on your wickets – without Vass and Mulari. But I feel sorry for Tendulkar – he just received a gem from Fernando.

Ranjith Fernando Menace – If somebody design a TV set with a “Ranjit Fernando” filter, I will exchange that to my house. The task is simple. The TV set should go into auto mute mode whenever the man opens his mouth.

To Sam – Maaan, this is a forum for cricket – not for these crap. I can’t imagine there are lunatics like you.

Guys i m back from hiding or disappointment or shock whatever u call it. Let me put this disclaimer that this clergy remark which some Sam has put, hasnt been put by me and i dont know how clergy works in SL so i wont comment on it.

Yes SL were deservedly winners for the game against India as we played very poor cricket and didnt deserve to be in the next round for the quality of play we showed in this tourney. However the real Indian team wasnt on display and this unit was far from their best. Having said that, this doesnt mean that I wont back my team. I would still ferociously support my team everywhere for the joy and delight it has given to me and several fans across country. i dont believe in burning effigies of players neither support those media savy ex cricketers or politicians who say that they would have batted well than Indians in the world cup. Whatever happens would be good for Indian cricket and it wont die for sure, even though Indian media and so called fans r predicting that its over.

As for SL, they are a good team, but you see against quality opposition they failed. Their famed batting line up failed against much lesser Charles Langerveldt and the big guns did not fire. Had it not been Malinga s 4 wkt burst then they would hv lost by even greater margin. However that doesnt matter. They have got 2 easy games against England and Ireland, however they would be expectedly beaten by Aussies and would have cat and mice fight with NZ and WI.

For all those critics baying for my head, here I am but not with face down, but face up and high. Yes my country has been out of the tournament and yes the icons are fallen guys, but its matter of few months. They would bounce back.

Commentators : There is no one good comentator from Pakistan or Bangladesh or Sri Lanka. India has also one pathetic commentator doing the job in WI -- Shivramkrishnan. Pathetic and worst to say the least. i remember Ranjit addressing DeSilva, Ranatunga and Jayasuriya at their peak as King Desilva, king Arjuna and king Sanatha.....Crap!!!!!

I still feel SL wont win the world cup...For doing that they would have to beat Aussies twice, who r on roll rt now. And thats not going to happen. Yes you can dream of a Aus VS SL final , but then the result would be the very obvious one : Aussies the champs

hey guys did you see that valavan became sakalakala valavan and started to support the sri lankans???? wot a i---t? now they proved that they are capable of doing any thing still they are on the learning process i think because the captain should be dropped as he is still struggling and because he is the captain (in sri lanka he can be related as madena mutta if you are sri lanka u know him) and he is not scoring and his luck is going and growing. by all if they felt that they are palying on a surface which suit them the best (experts said its like premadasa stadium) then why in the hell they didnt put malinga bandara in instead of some one because not only he can ball he can bat as well and premadasa is very much suit for spinners i hope all sri lankan fans would agree with me!!!!

what are you talking?how can you say had it not been when it happened huh? if we had put on 10 runs more we would have easily won the match....ANd for south africans who are praised for reaching a target 435 lost 9 wickets to chase 210...watch out, SL will come back strongly...if SL z batting improves i feel we can win any match...

Sam,you say you still support the team that is dead and buried as far as the World Cup is concerened! What kind of joke is that??!! It is one thing to be an one eyed supporter of your cricketing idols, but it is quite another to go round denigrating other teams. Characters such as you are not only cricket tragics but NERDS. If you don't know the meaning of the word - it means an introverted unsociable awkward looking person. The description seems to aptly fit your personality - someone who hides behind a mask of anonymity and throws insults knowing that his victims cannot get at him. In private life you will be the type of person who will hide in your mother's broom cupboard when there is a conflict.
Need I say more??

Hi Nithakaran

Sorry mate, but I am someone totally different to Valavan. Just took on that name to annoy Valavan. Always been a Sl supporter. As much as i would love to see someone who criticises the lankans support them, it hasn't happened this time.

SL's game against SA if at all only proves one thing - that SL is the most dangerous team in the tournament. Why do i say that, SL had a bad day against SA but they still came out fighting, and almost pulled off the impossible - Thats because this Sri Lankan team are a bunch of fighters that have a lot of pride ....
Sam, u say that if not for Malinga we would have lost by a larger margin - Thats a stupid comment, In that case if not for Kallis we would have beaten SA easily !!!
Having said all this i too agree that tha aussies are the best team in the tournament. However if SL do meet Australia in the finals, (we will first need to get past either SA or NZ) watch out, SL has the best bowling attack in the world cup and Australia have the best batting line up - One thing is for sure we will put up a better fight than India did in the last final!!!

sorry my friend sakalakala wel come to the blog lol

Shafraz good optimism mate.....SL is good team, no doubt...To beat Aussies u need to overcome Glenn McGrath first, then u need to stop Gilly, Haydos, Punter....if u get past of them simply then Clarky and Mr Cricket Hussy wud get u....And if they get down to a low score then i promise u mate, that Pigeon, Tait, Brackos, Hoggy aint gonna allow messrs Jaywardhena and co cut loose.....BTW I agree with Sam that Malinga was the difference between defeat by 1 wkt and may be a defeat by a 5 wkt....Cmom mate and u all SL fans, digest the fact the SL lost against a better team and they would lose to good teams untill they get good starts from top order messrs Tharanga, Jaisurya and Mahela extrovert Jaywardhena....SA though might have won if Kallis wasnt there too.....Thy just need to choke SL batsmen for runs and then SL batsmen wud self destruct........

And as of India is concerned, they r very good side who unfortunately had 2 bad days and the intensity of India - Aus game is not matched by any other combo....The day when Malinga fails to fire which is more likely than not, SL would be struggling to win matches on placid tracks.....Cos vassy has lost his place, Maharoof is inconsistent and Mali has edged out Fernando..........And u cant win games outside subcontinent with slower bowlers in majority.........Lankans have swamped this post of Mukul, but it seems they have been a bit rude to their big brother Indian fans....Well I m an Australian and i had wished India to play Australia the final, cos this 2 teams have involved in some epic series this decade....On the other hand SL has been a cakewalk for Aussies and this time would be no better, for 1) Ponting is yet to loose a WC game and 2) Pigeon would like to go out on a high and none has reply to his nagging off stump line so far.....

Buster if u cant stand up comments which done match ur views, better stay away rather than slinging personal comments full of trash....They hold no meanings in public forum.....I m shocked to see how the author of this blog approved ur trash comment.....And outside world cup at any day SL would be soundly beaten by India or for that matter by all other teams in WC too..

Like i said - Aussies definitely are the best team in the tournament and the team to beat.
But do you actually think India has a better chance of beating the Aussies? They do not have the bowling to bowl out the Aussies (containing is almost impossible against Australia)
I believe that the only possibilities for the Aussies to lose are that either SA or NZ chase against Australia and win (both of these teams have chown that they can chase down large targets against Australia)OR
SL get 275 on the board batting first (to do this the top order has to fire) - In which case they got a great chance of defending it.
No question about the fact that the SL top order needs to start firing, but the bowling wih or without Malinga looks as strong as ever, except for Maharoof (who probably needs to be replaced by Dilhara) the rest of the bowlers are bowling as well as they ever have.
And you are wrong my friend the last time SL played Australia it was far from a cake walk .... in case you forgot - go back and check what happened in Dec 2005 - Jan 2006. (SL won the first final and had Australia reeling at something like 2/3 in the 1st over of the second final, Australia still came back to win which is why they are the best)

sam is just too worried that india had to go home...wel see about SL be beaten by india and the other worldcup teams..BUT we qualified for the super 8s which the indian team coudnt...i can see you trying to find some rubbish to defend urself dude..well done!! And scoring 209 with SA, sl made a damn good fight which the indians couldnt manage with the bangla bros..Try to appreaciate and not talk trash because your country is watching cricket at home...

If SL bats 1st against Aussies, then do u think in the final (if SL reaches and thats a remote chance as a snowfall in West Indies) McGrath and company would let Lankans do that ? McGrath would publicly target out of form (batting) Mahela jaywardine and in form (in bantering) Sangakara....

The point is not how to beat Australia in the final, the point now is to get the worries sorted out for SL...Bowling might be stronger or strongest, but my dear friend Shafy, if batsmen dont pose a respectable score to defend then the bowlers cant do any thing.....

And it wud be better for guys like Mahela and Sangakkara to stop saying aggressive things like they did against SA and got whipped off...(We would ripp SA off the top)

2005-06 VB Series Aussies played SL 7 times and won 5 times (including 2 last finals) and won when mattered....True SL won 1st final and it counts for nothing. In the end history books say Aussies won the VB series.....

Talk of Test matches and then check out which team has managed to contain Aussies in 2000....Its India and to an extent England in 2005 Ashes, but then Aussies whitewashed them 5-0....And the end of year brings India and Australia back on and that would be an exciting series....As of SL -- they have to still win a single test match against them since 1999 Galle test.....Way to go for SL to upstage Aussies in tests....You guys have Murali and Vass in your team, but their wkts count for nothing if they dont win you test matches against best in the world and most of the wkts for Murali have come against cheaper oppositions like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and SA at home (SL) who are not best players of world....SL have yet to win a test match in Australia, West Indies, South Africa and of course India whose tracks are more spinner friendly than 1st 3......Do you agree with me on this ? Unless Murali wins at least 1 tests on this countries, his greatness wont be at par with Shane Warne though in 4 or 5 tests (2 of them against Bangladesh) he would overhaul Warney s 708 wkts..........

Dear Meero,

Like i said Aussies are the number 1 side - I'll just be hoping for an upset :-)

As for test cricket, i am not going to pretend we are a good test side when we are not ....
Dont agree with you on the comment regarding Murali though,
Have a look at the figures below - THESE FIGURES EXCLUDE ALL MATCHES AGAINST BANGLADESH & ZIMBABWE.
Matches Wkts Avg
Warne 142 685 25.52
Murali 89 532 23.30

***Murali averages 5.98 wickets per game whilst Warne averages 4.82 per game.

NOTE - Murali has better bowling averages than Warne against ENG, IND,NZ,SA & WI. Warne has performed better against PAK.

I have heard the story of how "Murali's figures are exaggerated due to his performance against minnows" a lot, but i think shows that even without those games he still is a great performer.

Can you decide who the greatest bowler is based on figures? I dont think so .... therefore it's always gonna be a topic up for debate. Being a Sri Lankan i would always argue for Murali.

Now about the teams performance in test cricket - i have already accepted the fact that SL are still not a very good test team. (they are showing signs of improvement lately though) And Murali is not going to win matches on his own no matter how great he is.

Yes man Murali is very good bowler. With a bowler like that you r expected to win more matches in every situation n country cos he s the one who gets turn on belter tracks too. But in tests, you cant games on a single bowler back. Thats where a partnership comes in bowling too, for Aussies Mcgrath and Warney did the job for past 16 yrs, for SL there are WUPJCV and MM, but not as lethal as SKW and GDM. However it wud be intresting to see how Aussies continue their dominance post this 2 bowlers....

Murali s record against India s not great and lets forget Warne....India plays spin bowlers the best....And they have their spinner too in Kumble...who has won India tests in SA, Aus, Eng, WI and Pakistan....

Another parameter to measure a bowlers greatness is how they perform overseas.....Warne scores over Murali in this aspect....Murali might have better average but that doesnt count much...how many games have Murali helped SL win in England -- 2 (1998 and 2006 -- 8 fors), in WI -- ? in NZ (1 in 2006), Aus -- 0, India -- 0, SA -- 0, Pak -- a few...Warne has won Aus games in all this countries including SL (3-0 in 2004 and 1-0 in 1993) except India....Murali wud finish much higher than Warney, but on one count Warney would get ahead of Murali -- matches won....

Besides i feel we r blessed to see 3 great spinners play together in a rare era, so in place of pitting one against each other, njoi this while it lasts and things r that they wont last longer!!!!!!

Meero I would like to remind you 1996 world cup what happened to Aussies against SriLanka in final do you want to remind it i think you wouldn't need because it 's probably one of worst day of you're life. Yes I agree one of you're comment Australia have good batting side and there few players are inform now but i doubt there bowling skills and the have only world class bowler but currently in completely out of form and captain couldn’t even try to complete his full quarter of over’s because he fears what will happened in next over’s (ex. Do you need to remind Chappell Hadley series).the reason for Ausiees beat south African in last Saturday one lucky damn throw hit to wicket if’ that throw couldn't hit wicket Australia never beat south Africa for that game possibly you can remind what happened to Ausiees in wonder's park.

If other teams play well Australia could only won one world cup so far it's only 1989 world cup. In 1999 world cup if Hershel gibes didn't throw that damn bowl in to air they even couldn't qualified for semifinals and even they did they couldn't go through to finals because they loose to south Africa in that super six game. In 2003 world cup if Sanga did Simmons stumps in first attempt they couldn’t reach 175 runs in that game thanks to Simmons 90 runs they reach to finals .
This time I think Ausiees couldn’t reach to final reason for that is Australia will beat New Zealand or SriLanka probably South Africa to get their revenge of beat them in 1999 world cup semifinals actually Australia didn’t beat them the result is tie. Even if they reach to final with there luck (Because Australia has is little luck in world cup and I earlier mention the Australian cricket luckiest moment in recent world cup campaigns) SriLankan will beat Australian in final which they did in 1996 world cup finals if you want know how will it happen I will tell in future soon and I will describe in fully Australians weak points and what are the plus point SriLankan have against Ausiees .Kangaroos’ will cry against the mighty lions do you want to know what it is please watch television on the 28th April it will happened surly and I promise it.

Meero,

Vaas whilst being a great servant of Sri Lankan cricket is not a genuine wicket taking bowler in test cricket (he is out of this world when it comes to ODI's), therefore the SL bowling in test cricket lacks the penetration upfront and Murali has to do all the work. (Yes, there maybe the odd occasion where Vaas has bowled a super spell, but not regularly enough).I believe Warney has been luckier in this aspect as he has had guys like Mcgrath around who regularly pick up early wickets ...
However SL have now found another attacking bowler in Lasith Malinga .... would be interesting to see how the Malinga - Murali combination works in future games ...

Dear Nadun

Extremely disappointed to see your composition of english, pathetic to say the least. And BTW who is Simmones in Aussie lineup ? U might be referring to Symo (Symonds)...And btw when did 1989 world cup occur ? Did it ? Or might be referring to 1999 ? U say of luck ? Luck so strong enuf to give them unbeaten run for 8 long years of the wc game....Then u talk of pre WC series when NZ beat them. Captain cudnt complete quarter of overs ? now wots that ? New term in cricket ? Man u seem totally ignorant abt the knowledge and the history of the game...Go n get facts straight and then discuss wat wud SL do to Aussies ? BTW did u forget How Aussies thumped SL in 2003 Super six and Semi final game ? If not then read the scoreline here at www. cricinfo.com.

Who Is the Best Spin Master in Test Cricket? Warne or Murali

Dear meero why do you talking about test matches stats now we are in world cup situation and you should talk about it but you seems to be like to talk about Murali and Warne stats and here we going to start it before doing I would like to mention one thing about Warne he is the finest leg spin bowler ever world seen in cricket history and I am very sad about his retire because world cricket missing one of greatest cricketing son you ever seen in the game.

But Meero you seems to be talking about test matches winning ability of Warne and Murali Warne won more matches his country because not single handily help of other bowlers too. Australia have very powerful batting line up than SriLanka in reality if you have such a batting line up any bowler could win matches for his country instead of SriLanka don't get enough runs to bowl to Murali .When they did it every time SriLanka will win matches .In paper they have good name in test match stand when it going to performance in match they didn't do it consistently enough in overseas condition that’s why we didn't win enough matches in overseas condition in past but present SriLankan team is very good at doing overseas well .You can watch result in last England and Kiwis’ series also I bet one thing in next few series we will win more away series. When it come to home series its completely different story and because our batsman score runs home soil and we win more matches. Also in up coming recent years Murali will defiantly change overseas winning record of SriLanka. Now he is more hunger to take wickets than ever. Last 5 test matches he took 10wickets per match in each time and it’s better for SriLankan cricket because of that now we win more matches.

You talk about SriLanka didn't win Australian soil in any matches it's true and they didn't get enough matches after 1996 and they only got 2 matches and Murali didn't tour that series because of that reason Warne pass Murali 's record. If he plays Warne couldn’t get the world record.

When it comes to statistically Warne is much below compare to Murali .Meero you tell against India Murali record not grade what about Warne against India Murali take 67 wickets in 15 matches and avg 32.47 and Warne took only 43 wickets in 14 matches and avg 47.18 he only took 1' 5wic in inng and compare to Murali he took 4' 5wic inng & 1' 10 wick in match. And Warne biggest wicket taking county and his major opposition is England .Even when it comes against them Murali is much better .Warne took 196 wick in 36 matches of his avg is 23.25 and Murali took 93 wickets in just 13 matches and his avg is 19.74.
Even other countries Murali average is better than Warne .You told he is not good in foreign soil but real thing is Murali is better than Warne in Asia, Europe and America that conclude East or West Murali is the BEST. In those regions Murali have better average and strike rate than Warne. Only Africa Warne is slightly ahead than Murali but not much.

Lot of people say warns best came after the drug controversy case that’s mean after 2004. After that incident Warne took 217 wickets in 38 matches average wicket for match is 5.71 and average is 24.75 and strike rate 59.71.When comes to Murali he took 189 wick 25match avg.18.61 strike rate 41.46 per wicket that illustrate who will be better in recent years. Some body say Warne took 96 wicket in 2005 yes it's true but he spend 15 matches and avg 22.02 & st.rat 45.1 same year Murali took 52 wick in just 8 matches and avg of 18.51 and str.rt 39.2 you decide who is the best? .The last year we can get the great comparison of both of them because they played similar number of matches and stats are very interesting to read Warne in 10 matches took 49 wickets of avg 30.20 & st.rat. 58.1 in other hand Murali took 90 wickets in just 11 matches and avg & str.rt are 16.90 and 30.20 that’s record will illustrate who will be the best bowler

Dear meero another thing you should need to remind how many time they single handedly winning games for there countries. How many times Warne captures 13,14,15,16 wickets in single test match .Can you mention single game? I bet you can't but Murali did that thing also and he took 9 wickets per innings twice .How many time Warne took 5 wickets per inn & 10 wick per match in his complete test career. In his 145 test match career 37’ 5wicket's & 10 ' 10 wickets occasion per match. Murali's 110 test match career he took 57 '5wickets & 19 '10 wickets it almost double when compare to 10 wickets. My friend most important things of the bowlers are taking 10 wickets or more in test match then they can easily win matches not to chipping 3, 4 wickets and when others do the same then you win that’s the theory Warne and Australian do for there games in most times yes you can win matches but not only contributing lot to team of his own bowling but some time he did but not much than Murali.

Then come to the final part of there careers mean Warne took 708 wickets in 145 matches but Murali got 674 wickets in 110 matches. Warne only ahead to Murali just 34 wickets but he play more than 35 games. Meero you seems to be don’t like to pass Warne 708 wickets by Murali but thing is to pass Warne record Murali only spend 5 or 6 matches or less it’s a shame for great Warne. My dear meero end of this year Murali will gain his world record back and he will set new world record possibly you couldn't even think. Murali is the Master class and world class bowler when it comes to bowling Murali surely slightly ahead than Warne .Murali is magician and he is spin wizard. The Great SriLankan son will get his world test bowling record soon. And Others couldn’t even dream to pass that’s mile stone of there careers.

Chaminda Vaas has got 300+ wkts in Tests and fairly decent record against all Test oppositions, if not very impressive. Fails to deliver against India, Australia , Pakistan and South Africa, whereas some success against NZ and WI. Thankfully he fails against Bangladesh thus giving more wkts to his illustrious spin partner Murali.....And it was a pitiable sight to see yesterday Vaas getting Lara stumped to SangaExtroSpeakerkara. Drop of pace or being made to bowl slow as SL have some ridiculous passion for slow bowling, wonder sooner than later they would make Malingha bowl spin too with Sanga standing up!!!!!!!!

You didn’t remember chapel Hadley series .the Austrian cricket greatest white wash series before the world cup start. And what abut 1996 world cup final .What happened to you’re Kangaroo team. Ponting, McGrath all plays that game and one of worst moment of McGrath cricket life he mention it and not my opinion ok also it will happen again in this world cup. Good luck Ausiees because they couldn’t reach world cup final this time. What happened to Australian team in Commonwealth Bank Series finals .Even Australian team loose twice to that England team who were in their worst form? Even with out key player like Peterson. How poor Australian in that series .Can said any thing about those 2 defeats in you’re home soil .Because we beat England in their home soil and it’s special one because it’s 5-0 .

Vaas was never express in his career and he has lost a bit of his zip now as he has got older. At best he bowls at about 129 / 130 KMPH.
Therefore rather than try to bowl quick he is focussing on mixing things up and bowling with his head. He is probably one of the best "Thinking Bowlers" around and the only two comparable bowlers are Pollock and McGrath. I have seen the keeper stand up to both these bowlers.
If it aint broke why fix it??? It's working for Vaas and he should continue in the same manner ...

Nadun mate i really pity ur English and the efforts u r making to count Murali over Warney. Wotta logic you hv put on to prove SL to be better than Aussies...You keep harping about 1996 World cup final, grow up son, seems u still live in wonderland of past which doesnt hold ne meaning...The world has moved on since then and you are still pitting the trumpet of 1996 final....SL beat England and England beat Aus, so does that mean SL wud beat Aus ? Ridiculous.....The theory of transitivity doesnt work in cricket my dear son!!! Grow up and be a man....And work out ur English mate....

PS : A note for Mukul : Please dont approve comments in pathetic English. Lets have some standard be kept for cricinfo.com. Its turning out to be a sissy sibling of rediff.com where you find lot of abuses to each other.....

well well,,

am not sure about the nationalities of some of above commented guys(pigeon .p..???Are u an OZ or some indian on Booze hangover?).. but we'll show wats in store at the semis..won't we...

here's my prediction..

OZ's vs SL-SL wins
NZ vs SA-NZ wins..

its the gut feeling..remember mother cricket is a great balancer of fortunes
..And its great to hear that some PAK and IND fans are cheering in SL matches.tanks guys..

Aus plays SL in semis and loses, now thats a boozed hangover....Thats a fertile imagination of a emerald mind....Live in a fantasy world mate where SL are world champions, no dollars r bein spent on imagination......Go Ahead....Let us know by how many runs wud SL win or by how many wkts wud SL wiin (And wud they score 600 in 50 overs ?)...

Can somebody tell me why SL Skipper took Malinga off the last overs an gave the ball to Murali? What is the thinking behind this? Malinga was bowling beautifully at the time. Is this an effort to give Murali more wickets or is there a reasonable explanation than that?

To Meero,

We all know Aus has the best batting line up and they had for some time. But Warnie never bowled against the best batting line up but Murali did and others as well. If you swicth teams for Murali and warne, Murali would have got 1000 by now in Aus tem and Warnie would not have got even 200.

Warne dint bowl to best f batting line ups ? Why wud he bowl against his own team mates dude ? Are you nuts ? Crazy or Boozed on ? Wud Murali bowl against likes of his own team mates ? Ridiculous....Maintain some sense and some logic....If you had switched teams, then Murali wudnt have found a place in Aussie teams and Warne wudnt have migrated to Lanka to play cricket for them......So stop this ridiculous argument proving SL are the best.....They havent even won an ODI series in India, AUstralia or South Africa, let go a Test Series......What is the worth of having bowler like Murali if you cant win overseas in alien conditions!!!!!!

Wow! good to see guys getting heated up!

Whatever the current statistics are,
if you ask Aussies, teams they don't
want to play against in semis or final,
they will definitely tell you that they
are SL and NZ in their hearts, not in
their words though. :)
No doubt about that mate.

Why?
Both are mentally tough as a team
and have the ability to put Aussies
under pressure on a given day.
In a do or die match both have the
ability to win not like SA.

Hope to see some good matches
in this world cup!
And also, hope SL will be the
winner beating NZ in the final.

Come on guys, lets stop the mud slinging and talk cricket! This is a forum for cricket and current cricket at that. Nothing that happened in the past matters.
On current form the obvious semi finalists are AUS,SA,NZ & SL. Unless England can spring a few suprises (Not at the expense of SL i hope).
All four teams are playing great cricket. The Aussies still are the team to beat but any of the other three teams can beat them on their day.
Beyond that is anybody's guess ... However i got this feeling that the Aussies are not going to be champs this time around ...

I am a srilankan cricket fan tired of listening to Mr.Ranjith fernando's voice over the years.We have so much of Cricketing talent ,sadly we just could not find an alternative for Mr.Fernando.We blame the International authorities to repeatedly providing oppertunities to the same individual.Appreciate if Mukul can do an analysis of the present cricket commentators in voloved in the 2007 World cup and also the capable ones who keep missing out all the times.

Well,,,

Mr.Nadun has given some poor logic above for SL, he should learn to argue with logic first and then be a critic…

SL strength is in their bowling in the WC>.
They should bowl first and take the advantage ,but the luck was not in the side. And when SL caption had the chance with the SA match , he batted first....>
What a STUPID decision. That put the whole team under pressure and he didn’t also bat well..
If SL had bowled first then SA match would have been different..……

Well they batted well with IND and WI under pressure and had the worst of the conditions. But I think SL should always bowl first. And chasing is no worries in WI wickets.

And there is stupid hype about NZ going to finals from now,(even without they had played a REAL crunch match,,,)

Am a, Indian ,,and think there has to be some clarification about NZ,,,
They had most luck in the good games always bowling first ..
well they are in to a bad wake up call in the games with SA,SL and OZ’s….
Had seen the series with SL in NZ and there, the series was leveled with 2-2 with rain saving the NZ from real embarrassment . But if u had seen the 4 match ,NZ were bowled out for their second lowest total and even Mcmilan was shivering when facing Malinga there in NZ pitches.

Well OZ’s is going to be a real test…and given SL bowl first and the wicket is not total flat dead wichek like the one with SA & OZ’s…(OZ had the best pitches and SA would have won that game If the pitch was gayana one with 75 m boundaries around the bat.)..

am an indian and i like to c some logic in these arguments,,

Aus & SL match is going to be a cracker given SL bowls first.

their bowling is in superb form and have to say even OZ bowling is not up there in the WC>but OZ have the batting power to fill those gaps anyway….We have to see how they bat in a wicket like in Guyana with big boundaries and low bounce. SO far oz and NZ had the best pitches to bat and that’s not a real test….

Lots think NZ will be at Finals but think it’s a dream....:
Lets analyze ,the only crunch games new Z had with WI & ENg(well not that much of a crunch games any way ) ,NZ always had the better of all conditions .they bowled first and had the luck of chasing in most games(even wit Banga).And even there they had pressure wit Eng game loosing quick 3 wickets….

And because of they bowling first,
most of their lower order hadn’t faced the music and pressure and they hadn’t taken their team out of woods under pressure (they didn’t had any chance to do it at all…..)

Well come the REAL crunch matches , NZ BATTING FIRST AGAINST SA,SL, OZ, I THINK THEY ARE IN TO A BIG SURPRICE…….

have to admin SL have the best attack in WC for any pitch there.SA dont have spinners and OZ dont have lee...
AND NZ IS NOT THAT GOOD.THEY CANT EVEN BOWL OUT BANGA BELOW 150,,and struggle to get last 2 wickets to restrict them..(with SL banga less thatn 120/ wit OZ banga less than 150.. )

OZ’s is going to be a real test…and given SL bowl first and the wicket is not total flat dead wicket..am keeping my fingers crossed.

What a good English Srilankan fans have. And wot logic do they produce to prove SL are bestest...WOW, hats off..One of them lives in a fantsay world of 1996 and since then he has disappeared...The other one says NZ couldnt restrict BAN below 150 and SL did, so SL are the best. yes son SL are really the best, but only when it comes to slow and sluggish wkts, on faster wkts, they race to get to pavallion first....

Aussies, they wud fall to SL, cmon go get a life. Aussies are no Indians (i am an indian fan too), they wont loose themselves to a team who plays one of the most boring cricket in the world......By the way India too hadnt lost to SL, but thanks to their Aussie coach Chappell Sir, they lost.....Its goin to be a Aus Vs NZ final....And lets see today if Lankans can beat England today and for god s sake all you Lanka fans please dont say that you beat England 5-0 in England so again you would win today. Nadun dude would say : Oh mate, SL Beat England and England beat Australia, so SL would beat Australia......Spare us from your pathetic English and sick logic at that, and yes the V-Cut today is going to be a seaming one......LOL

I do agree with above fans and SAM on the view about the TV commentators..

Looks like the ICC have this plan to bore the fans to death with this monotone commentries.
where have all the OZ commentators who had great insight and sense of humour gone..
Tony Greig, IAN chappel , Bruce, Ian healy.....

the two guys from OZ are pathetic and dont have any insight into the issues about WC.
Those 2 are really setting a bad standard to OZ commentry(Am sure the OZ fans here will agree) , who normally set the trends in commentry.

Earlier i decided to watch this boring match with Bangla and OZ ,thinking i ll get some insight from these commentaries. Boy ... was i disappointed......Its hard to stay awake with these guys muttering shit.

And all the countries commentators are alike...

Ind- It was refreshing to hear Sanjay discussing stuff… Plz, sanjay,,, don’t give the mike to that other Indian ,who gives me the creeps.

pak- Ramiz seems to be the only 1 good left and ,,,,plz Ramiz ....... dont switch the mike with any other idiots....

SL- Ranjith is a joke ..he has too many literature terms in his sentences ,that he also might wonder what the hell he had said at the end of a sentence........

plz. there are more dynamic guys, with direct speech here in SL ,,,(Ranil abenayake,Roshan,,, have good knowledge and guts to call a spade a spade......)

so swap places ,otherwise we ll have to wait till Sangakkara becomes a commentator , to hear good commentries.

Eng -little better with Boycott,Nazaar having their styles. But be more dynamic please....

other countries ,no need of talking about them,,,.

May be ICC is having this tight Noose around these guys that they cant talk freely about the Issues in the WC..!

Mr sam,we are not here for English lessons...we are here to talk about SL cricket...dont get jealous just because india lost against SL dude...Wel c what happens but wel somehow get to the finals...

SL wil beat England today...

New Thread:

current crisis of WC Commentators

ICC has this plan to keep away fans from the game?? Nice move ICC….

well,,,, they did it with the empty stands there, with the ticket prices sky high that no average man can afford it.. Even locals cant afford those lowest priced ticket. (ticket for lowest price where u ll have some piece of grass to sit in.... )

And all the countries commentators are alike .....(Especially English speaking countries..)

Ind- It was refreshing to hear Sanjay discussing stuff… Plz, sanjay,,, don’t give the mike to that other Indian ,who gives me the creeps.

pak- Ramiz seems to be the only 1 good left and ,,,,plz Ramiz ....... dont switch the mike with any other idiots....

SL- Ranjith has too many literature terms in his sentences ,that he also might wonder what the hell he had said at the end of a sentence........

NZ- what are they talking about??

Eng- artheton-sleepy and crap..
boycott,Nazar-little better..

OZ-where are they anyway?

WI-little better,but they have to b da best,cause its their WC..

My semifinalists :

Aus, SA, NZ and one of (SL, WI and Eng). Though WI hold a slim chance and Eng on the edge, with SL maverickking, i think Eng shud get in if they manage to beat Lanka today, which they would and somehow they dont loose to Aussies by bigger margin..(Aussies wud hunt down England), then they are a team to be seen....Exciting team with Freddie, KP, Paully and Mikey....About commentators :

SL has no good comentator except Mahanama but he too fumbles in pronouncing V-CUT...Ranjith is a parrot who copies his fellow c ommentator and speaks it....

Pakistan : Only good commentator they have is Rameez, lot better than Asif Iqbal, Imran Khan, Aamir Sohail, Waqar Younis. Wasim is the best they have but he s upto STAR n ESPN...

Bangladesh : hopeless as their cricket

NZ : Ian Smith, Martin Crowe r good. Mark Richardson, Dion Nash, Glenn Turner ok types. Jeremy Coney big bore

Australia : The country with best of everything. Best commentators in Ian Chappell, Who s BRUCE ? , Bill Lawry, Benaud (GR8est of all), Healy, Tubby (M Taylor) etc etc, superb command n control....Tony Greig also follows, some years back he was Tony Gregnayke for his support of Lanka, but soon he became a Aussie.......

England : David Lloyd and Bob Willis along with Nasser Hussain wud kill you to death, but Ian Botham, David Gower, Paul Allott, Mike Arthorton along with king of them Geoffrey are good ones....

SA : All boring incl Barry Richards and Robin Jackman.

WI : Tony Cozier and Michael Holding are good but one dimensional.

Finally India : The best of the lot : Sunny, Ravi and Harsha dont comment in non ESPN STAR games, but there is a huge array of boring guys like Arun Lal, Maninder Singh (how does he comment ?)and the worst of all Laxman Shivramkrishnan...Sanjay Manjrekar is good but too technical and very critical........

So all in all Aus, Eng and India have good English speaking commentators along with some from NZ, rest boring and yawning .....

Somasiri : Who s Nazar in England ? Nasser Hussein ? u mean ?

This Sam dude takes the cake! He is profuse in his comments and very patronising to other bloggers but squeals like a rat when someone tries to analyse his queer personality.Now he has the cheek to offer his 2 cents worth on the commentators!! His comments are absolute rubbish as far as I am concerned. To me the most partisan commentators are Benaud, Healy, and Smith. The others are objective and have no pretence and they try their best. Ian Healy is no commentator- he is a just part of the Aussie cheer squad. The best to me are Mark Nicholas, Nasser,Cozier,Ian Chapell and Gavaskar- they are objective, lack prejudice and have a good knowledge of the history of the game to intersperse with the descriptions.

Sam & the rest,

Yes, if it wasn’t for Malinga there was a chance that SA would have beaten us with a huge margin. But FYI Malinga is also a part of the team and Malinga wouldn’t have done it without the rest of the lions to back him up taking those catches on time and cheering him up all the way. That is what a team really means. So what you really mean by “if it weren’t for Malinga...”?

Also even if are to be beaten by Aussies, our guys will still be welcomed home warmly!!! Win or loose we know that they have put their maximum effort and spirits into the game.

hi sam
bestest??? pavallion?
case of the pot calling the kettle black don't u think?

Yeah another Lanka fan who thinks his team are world beaters and the commentators r the best. Dude what knowledge do you have abt the rules of public forum discussion. Buster kid you seem to lack the maturity of posting on the public forum…..U try to sound like a man with huge knowledge base, but in reality you sound like a nerd with no knowledge but with half baked information and a jack of all trades, but master of none…..Aha kid grow up, understand the game first, learn the rules of public forum posting and then be a man enough to come out of hiding from your mother s womb !!!!

Chapple was a great player and a coach..Too bad some seniors in Ind didnt realized that....

He was one of the best.Thats why we took him even for that big contract offer.Now we are back to square 1 with nothing....

Ind team shuold change their attitude and Sach should take back his comments..

Hi Sam,
Any Sri lankan fan have every right to believe that their cricketers, world beaters. Indeed our creicketers have done that so far. Whether they win the world cup or not, they have done us proud and we know that they will do their best for the country in the future games as well. Win or lose they are our heros, unlike you Indians, who curse the cricketers when they lose. So please stop worrying about our faith on our cricketers. Don't worry about the quality of english we use as it is not our mother tongue. If you don't have anything else to do, give your cricket administrators some advices using your 'Profound' knowledge on the game of cricket. Pls don't pollute this blog with your irrelevant comments which arouse utter disgust.

Sam,
I guess you are entitled to your own opinions but whats your problem with SL mate???
Is it that we beat India in that all important game? It is'nt our fault ... had India beaten Bangladesh they would be in the super 8's ...
I mean come on no matter what your problem is it is quite obvious that SL is amongst the top four teams in the world on current form.
Semi finalists by the looks of it would be AUS,SA,NZ & SL.
Australia probably have the best betting line up on current form and SL have the best bowling side ...
And yes SL do have a chance to beat the Aussies, but they really have to play out of their skins to do it ...
By the way sanjan, i disagree i believe when SL plays Australia they should bat first, given a total above 250, the lankan bowlers always have a chance of winning the game for their team.
Sam, one more question? whats boring about the way SL play? please enlighten us ....

Sam, in case u do show up, well now that we've got past England, i suppose the next prediction is that NZ are going to thrash us right?
I can't predict the outcome of SL Vs NZ cos both teams are playing great cricket but u really need to wake up and acknowledge the fact that SL are definitely going to the Semis and once they get there they are going to be serious contenders for the trophy ....
Here are a few passages from some of the previews (not by Sri Lankan's)on cricinfo prior to the England game,
1- "On Wednesday, they take on Sri Lanka - the neutrals' favourites and arguably the most well-rounded team in the tournament"
2-"Sri Lanka are not merely a better drilled outfit than England; they are light years ahead in terms of preparation, personnel, form, flexibility and one-day know-how. They qualified from the toughest of the pools with three handsome wins out of three; on Sunday they slapped West Indies by 113 runs; and against South Africa last week they came within a stump's splinter of defending an indefensible total. England have no choice but to turn up and play, because there's no doubt that their opponents are ready and waiting"

But pundit Sam seems to think otherwise right ??? India are the only subcontinent team that can play good cricket is it???
What's happened, India's shock exit frozen your brain cells???
I do have one prediction - Sam if he does show up is now going to talk about how we "ALMOST" got beat by England and therefore are a weak team ... right sam?
Whatever makes u get over the dissapointment of being knocked out in the first round mate ....

It seems our good friend (?) Sam had made some interesting comments around 3 weeks ago (before the tournament began) about the Sri Lankan team, i believe he had referred to us as the minnow bashers etc etc.
That explains all this rubbish that's being posted by Sam, does'nt it ... He clearly is not man enough to admit he was wrong in his analysis of the Sri Lankan side ...

sam must be making some good logic using his prof. NASH brain.
OR may be he s searching for spelling/grammer errors in these posts...

good luck pal.

Sam please stop polluting this site. Your comments are of an insanelely jealous stupid man. what is your problem with sri Lanka. I have not seen or heard from any SriLankan who would have been unhappy if India did well in cricket. Infact some of them are sad at Indias failure. Sam I think you should see a psychiatrist for some counselling or anti-psychotics and not waste your time posting your stupid comments just to irritate other saner people.

i can laugh louder at the comments of you Lanka fans. Lanka -- a world beater ? Big joke, my stomach suddenly got butterflies with the loud laaughter i had....What s the achievements of Lanka ? Just a few wins over WI and Eng and yes India too. Does that make them world beaters ? For being a world beater, you need to beat top class teams consistently, like Australia do. hahaha i m not lookin for any psychatrist help or english specialist, i m tryin to look why a few wins over teams make them world beaters....And yes in the next game against NZ will be thrashed by Lanka and by huge margin. Aussies too would be awed by Lanka --- from Malinga, Sangakara, Jaywardhena, Jayasuriya and all those 15 world beaters and then may be the likes of McGrath or Ponting or Haydos or Gilly would run for cover ?

Before i say nething abt SL, go and read what Mahela Jaywardhena has said about the close matches he is having....He is not happy with the way his guys are throwing wkts....(Read it on cricinfo.com, this is to the guy who said "sl are neutrals favourites and most rounded off team)...I doubt if Lanka are favourites, first let them reach semis, if they do then let them win it, if they do then let them beat the finalists....And pls dont argue on past results, cos in every game past doesnt matter, every day is fresh and you start at 0/0 in every match....I hope u all fans of Lanka would agree on that every match is a fresh match, or else you d be suggesting me oh man, he s gone crazy go n get a doctor.....

I have no problem with Lanka or its whimsical fans...Its just that i dont like way they play the cricket.....Period.

About India s exit : Yes i m disappointed that we lost, but they deserved it cos they dint play good cricket and a backdoor entruy wudnt be good....India shud hv beaten Lanka but they could not and they are reaping the fruits for wot they did....U dont worry about India....They d come out of it and come out of it stronger.....And guys if u cant stand up the criticism of ur team then dont post here, have the guts to read the criticisms and praise too, not evry one wud hold same opinion abt like you guys do. And if that doesnt happen no point in calling names to the individual, that just shows lack of maturity!!!!

Mate, seems like you are the one lacking maturity, true that nothing can be based on the past.
Answer one question truthfully, is sri lanka amngst the top four teams based on current form?
Now you dont seem to be able to accept that fact ...
By the way can you also clarify the following comment - " First let them reach the semis"???
All logical thinking people know by now that - AUS,NZ,SA&SL will make the semis, so do tell us what makes your twisted mind think that SL wont be in the semis ???
Oh and by the way would you like to be a man and change your comment about SL being minnow bashers, or do you think India , West Indies & England should be now categorised as minnows ???(Please pundit sam do respond to this question ..)
One more question for you sir,
2 days ago you made the following comments about England - "i think Eng shud get in if they manage to beat Lanka today, which they would. then they are a team to be seen....Exciting team with Freddie, KP, Paully and Mikey."
Now your opinion towards England seems to have changed, you claim that beating WI,INDIA & ENG doesnt count, we need to beat "World Class teams", do tell us what changed your opinion of England & of course who are these "WORLD CLASS TEAMS" that we need to beat ??? please do tell us o great one ....
One final question for you sir, What exactly dont you like about the way Lanka play their cricket?

Sam,

Oh yes , lankan cricket is boring not as exciting as Indian cricket isn't it?

Also you have a very poor knowledge of the game for a while for any ordinary fan could predict that the semi finalist going to be Aus, SL, NZ & SA.

Most of the Indian and Pakistani fans support
Sri Lanka at the moment except a few.

Whatever the results are, Sri Lanka
is taking part in the most entertaing
cricket matches (vs Eng, SA, and may
be more) from a spectator's
view in the World cup.

The people who know how to
enjoy cricket will admit it.

Sri Lanka, a team that beat India has
a resposibilty to win the world cup
at least I think :)

Hope to see good cricket!
At last, cricket is larger than any
single team.

Cricket is the game of glorious uncertanities...Do u agree to this ? U Lanka fans are immature in the sense u cant c the imminent weaknesses of ur team (batting incosistent, letting teams off the hook eeven having them at 6/133 despite stronggest "bowling attack" and many more).
Ur questions :
is sri lanka amngst the top four teams based on current form?
Is it the best ? Have they beaten top 3 teams ? Nah, they lost to SA (Now dont come n say the y almost won), Aussies wont give them a chance if they continue to slip off like they did against SA.. U agree to this ? Man by man Aussies stand tall to all teams in the world incl SL....Agree ?

Dude if u cud read among lines then i never said they wont reach semis...They can, but on any day anything cud happen in cricket....(Ireland beat Pakistan , Bangladesh beat India), so any team cud trump the other one.....Logically SL is in the semis, dont u c ? But chances for WI and ENG havent faded offf.....Mathematically its still possible. That i wud leave upto u to work out!!!!
Imran Khan (i hope u know him, he was from Pakistan and he s like Arjuna to Pakistan) once said, no result is possible to predict unless last bowl is bowled, now dont catch my neck if u dont agree to his statement......

England lost, that doesnt make them a lesser exciting team than before or for that case India too.
do tell us what changed your opinion of England & of course who are these "WORLD CLASS TEAMS" that we need to beat ???

Beat Aussies and SAFS in their own den. True u guys drubbed SA in your hometown, but dare to win in their hometown later this year (r u aware of SL s tour itirneary ?), beat Aussies later this year in Aussieland, if they do tht then they wud be WORLD CLASS. Not before that....And yes beat India in India too (perhaps thats one record ur team wud like to improve)...

Let them first beat Aussies 2 times in the WC to be champs, then they cud be thot of world clase team, till then they aint.....

Sri Lankan batting is an obvious weakness - No doubt about that.
By the way SL are definitely not the best team in the world. If you go back and check, you would see i have repetedly said that the Aussies are the best. However a 1 off win against the aussies in a semi final or final is not impossible so as far as i am concerned SL has a chance to pull off an upset.

Even winning the world cup will not make us the best team in the world and i have never said we are.

All i ask my friend is to be fair and factual in u'r arguments, dont you think u'r statement that SL are minnow bashers needs some correcting ???

SL play BAN more often than any other team. Dont they ? Now Zim has 8 tests Vs BAN and SL has 7 tests...Pakistan has 6 and rest countries have 3 or 4. BAN tours SL more often than any other country. In fact out of 7 tests , 5 r on SL soil (2001, 2002, 2005) and only 2 on Ban soil, and to make it more worse SL host Ban again in July.....

Neeedless for me to tell you that who gets the most wkts against them and how do the wkts for the bowler stack up.

The other minnows Zimbabwe have played their maximum tests against SL (15 out of 83) and again who makes them feel hapless is known to all!!! 123 wkts out of 684 are against this 2 teams out of 684. Compare this with 2 other greatest spinners of his era, the cheap wkts wud be less....

Who holds the ODI maximum runs in an innings -- SL.. against whom Holland (2006), prior to 434 from Aussies who had ? SL against Kenya in 1996 (398 in kandy thx to DeSilva s 145), who has the best bowling figures in ODIs ? Vaasy against whom ? ZIM 8-19 when SL thumped them by 9 wkts (dismissed for 36) and then again Canada (35 this time, an ODI record) in 2003 WC...But lost to Kenya....LOL........

WHich bowler took hattrick off the 1st 3 balls of the match -- vaas against whom ? Bangladesh.....when 2003 WC.....Yes Malinga did 4 off 4 against SA

Now for some other stats :

Best ODI batsmen of all times Mr Sachin Tendulkar hasnt hit a single 100 against BAN. Ponting has 0, Gilchrist has 0.

This all stats point to 1 thing man -- SL are minnow bashers cos they play more often with this countries. Other unfortunate fact is that they dont tour their big subcontinental brothers that often. They have toured India for a test series just once in last 10 years (1997, 2005). Yes they have played most tests against India (26 out of 167) but most of this were in their eariler part of their test history (1983, 1987, 1990 and 1994)...Pakistan : last tour in 2004!! Eng tours : 2002, 2006, 1998 (before that they played just 1 off tests), Aus : 1995, 2004. (3 and 2 test series), WI : 1997 and 2002.....

I hope that provides some answers....Yes they have started winning abroad in 2006 (Eng and NZm thanks to Moody)

For all those deluded fans of India like Sam who still believe that India can win the world cup in 2007,(!!!!) I have only to say this.With a popoulation of one BILLION people can't you find eleven men to beat a team of minnows like Bangladesh?
Your once great cricketer(the greatest Indian cricketer ever!!) could not even score ONE century against this team of MINNOWS in TEN outings!!!How pathetic is that? If India cannot beat the minnows, what chance in hell do they have in beating a SUPER Team like Sri Lanka?Forget the thought of ever competing with sides like Australia and South Africa.

Hi Anand Sharma
I am amazed by your comments. You have got your 1st prediction right (about the result on the 23rd March). Come to think of what you have writen and your line of thinkling, I can't agree with you any more!!
I hope Sri Lanka will do all of us proud by winning the World Cup 2007!. It would be extra special if it would be at the expense of Australia in the final!

India deserves every result they got from this WC...

They are a poor side with some rude and disobedient sportsman..

And the BCCI is most corrupt with Sunny making stupid comments...

GREAT SUNIL, if they did their work right , then ind would have been even good losers. ...

But as wit those Pre comments about OZ's even sunny showed that Ind is a land of pathetic sportsmans,,,
ONLY DRAVID IS THE MAN WITH A VISSION AND A PERSONALITY..
nO WONDER HE DID WONDERS HERE AT THE IND TOUR....
KICK endorsement hero’s like sachin , gangully out of the team india... otherwise team india will be a big joke. As it has unfolded now.

WOW Buster s back with his crap bang on target!!! Man its gr8 SL has players who d play great against Bangladeshis, Canadians, Namibians, Zimbabweans and Bermudans, but they lose to Kenya, they lose to SA, they loose to India too (36 wins as compared to 50 defeats, 36

India having lost to the Minnow Bangladesh and the Minnow killer Sri Lanka, wud almost certainly have been decimated by Pakistan if they were unfortunate enough to meet them.The question for India is where now from here? By all accounts the whole of India is in a state of mourning, the cricketers are in hiding facing the greatest calamity since Ranjit Singh dropped his glass eye ball into a bowl of soup! The country cannot cope with defeat and its pathetic one eyed fans are near suicidal. I strongly recommend that they take to navel gazing or migrate in large numbers to those prosperous lands around it. Sam you will be doing a great service to all our bloggers if you jump the first boat to nowhere!!!

Dear Sam,
Whilst your great Indian team has no time to play cricket against teams like Bangladesh & Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka has to give these two teams oppurtunities cos not too long ago we were the minnows, The last team to enter test cricket before ZIM & BAN was sri Lanka.
What does it matter how many times we play them anyway, the important fact my friend is we are STILL IN THE WC, we have lost only one game, beaten a few good sides and performing fairly well, If thats how a team of minnow bashers perform, I think all of us Sri Lankans will prefer to stay minnow bashers than become "Team India" and get knocked out in the first round ...

By the way all major teams other than SA have a good record against SL, simply because from 1982 to 1994 we were hardly competitive and lost the bulk of the matches we played (we were minnows at that point) ... so if that stat of 50 wins against 36 wins keeps you happy ... hang on to the memories mate .... cos thats all u got ...

By the way dont you think there's something wrong with Sachin if he cant score a century against Bangladesh? They are minnows right?

AM a pak fan and have to say these lines by some OZ's guy,were spot on :

"India deserves every result they got from this WC...
They are a poor side with some rude and disobedient sportsman..

And the BCCI is most corrupt with Sunny making stupid comments...

GREAT SUNIL, if they did their work right , then ind would have been even good losers
"....

PAK IS MUCH BETTER AS a cricketing nation right now... pak and even PCB showed that they ve learned ...and when we get our top guns(Akthar,Asif,Gul, AND RAZZAK) back , we will be really good.

where as India didnt loose any big guns in the WC.they had all the big players and lost badly ,where as PAK didnt have the best players for the WC,,,,,,
thought we lost badly , the shake up was really good and now players are in right attitude and can be moulded easily by a coach...
They ll listen to the coach ,and willnot blame him on public papers.
And when Akthar,Asif ,Gul and most importantly RAZZAK come back to the squad ,we will beat india in indian soil with ease...

And lets have that INd-Pak series that all wanted now... I bet PAK will whitewash ind in homesoil...

PS:hope mukul will post this, though it will heart his gut,,but this is the truth mukul... and i feel it.

hi sam ,

u still calling Bangla cheap shots and insulting....well check the score yesterday man....

u might not digest it and will go back to spelling mistakes analysis(good luck man) ....
well pal its time india learn to appreciate the cricket thew have to watch, cause pathetic ppl like u will always ruin indian cricket....

try to just appreciate cricket.....
then india will b so much better.....

Congratulations to Bangladesh for beating South Africa! Everyone here had described BANG as minnows. Yes, they may be (based on past) but they are now a pretty improved team. They have beaten India, SA in the WC and also NZ in a WC warm-up game. As they are also a team from the sub-continent, I hope they will do well against a few more teams (another win against ENG / NZ) would be great!
Though most cricket experts (westerners) create a lot of hype about SA and (unfortunately we Sri Lankans lost to them, a game which we should have won easily if we had batted sensibly and got another 15-20 more runs) I feel SA is highly over-rated!! Their batting has a distinct weakness against quality spin, bowling is predominantly seamers, batting cracks under pressure...so how could they be a world class team!!! I am surprised!!! Yes they are disciplined (Warne had described this as to the point of being regimented!!), batsmen lack imagination and natural flair, only thing they have is a couple of guys (Smith, Boucher and Nel)who likes to brag.

What an amazing performance from Bangladesh ... Absolutely brilliant!
They played well from strat to finish yesterday, they definitely did not look like minnows and maybe we should stop calling them that ...
I really hope they go on to beat at least one more test playing nation ... it would be wonderful for them i'm sure.

well done Bangla and SL,, And mukuls earlier article about iNd slip is good for WC....

And its about time PPL realize that Bangla is a force to recon with...

India should realized and leave DEV alone to coach us......
Money cant buy every thing as its obvious....

I would just like to introduce the idea that perhaps, this 'sam' character is retarded. Firstly, he/she/it sarcastically claims that Sri Lankan cricket fans' English is poor. However, it seems blatantly apparent to me that his own use of the language leaves much to be desired. He also attempts to argue that Sri Lanka play boring cricket- a ludicrous proposition that almost anyone who follows the sport will dismiss. Jayasuriya's explosive starts have provided plenty of entertainment over the years and the Lankan middle order batsmen can hardly be labeled pedestrian in terms of scoring rate (Arnold, perhaps being the exception to this). Moreover, Sri Lanka's bowling attack is an absolute treat to watch when they are on song (a fact acknowledged by many New Zealand fans, when Sri Lanka toured here early in the year). Malinga's unique, explosive action coupled with his affinity to bowl searing yorkers and malicious bouncers make a very interesting watch, while Murali's brilliant spells are also very entertaining.

With regards to chances of the remaining sides in the World Cup - Australia seem to be the team to beat as usual. South Africa's dismal performance against a rejuvenated Bangladesh seem to have hurt their chances, but I would still bet on the me making the semis. New Zealand will also get there, but the startling truth is, they have not been consistent over the past few months. An indifferent performance in the CB Series in Australia has been covered up by three wins over an understrength Australian outfit-where in two of the games, New Zealand's bowling was taken apart with ease. Sri Lanka are also a leading contender and I would really love to see them win. It would be good for the game. The raw emotion and sheer enjoyment displayed by the players is a treat to watch- and the team seems to have something special about them. GO SRI LANKA.

[If someone/team does not play against minnows, that is their problem!]

It is really funny to argue on the number of matches played by each country against minnows.

Players can not select which team to play when. That is up to the administrators.

What players can do is to play against the given opposition with their best.
That’s what has done by Sri Lanka. If other teams or players have not done that. That is their problem.

As Mahela said they would play against each and every opposition in the world cup without taking anything lightly no matter they are minnows
or not.

nice to read this again;

Its really refreshing to hear MR.Andrew talk about other sides of the WC>.

well few SL guys here have been too passionate(i accept the fact and am also SL) but have to say its real bad like some ppl like SAM , THROWING HATE in public blogs....

the phrase above , quote -
"He also attempts to argue that Sri Lanka play boring cricket- a ludicrous proposition that almost anyone who follows the sport will dismiss. Jayasuriya's explosive starts have provided plenty of entertainment over the years and the Lankan middle order batsmen can hardly be labeled pedestrian in terms of scoring rate (Arnold, perhaps being the exception to this). Moreover, Sri Lanka's bowling attack is an absolute treat to watch when they are on song ....."
by a NZ guy is much appreciated..

The entire threads depicting SL as better team and the Indians a lower one owing to their quicker exit is a ridiculous one and not pertaining to the standards of the discussion in the public forums. True SL have been the team playing much better cricket than its Asian counterparts, but they are still not the team as yet to match Aussies strength and given the way they demolished the Pomms yesterday, it gives me a belief that it would take something extraordinary to stop Aussies from taking their 4th title in all. A team doesnt become bad from good or good from bad in a space of few weeks, same holds true for India and Pakistan. Same would be true for England too.

Some fans from the Emerald Isle lived in the fantasy world of 1996 win when they thumped Tubby s men to win their 1st title. I wont give it a cent of air when we discuss 2007 WC, 11 years later and 3 world cups later. And as far as any upset for Aussies from SL is possible thats as remote as a snowfall in the Carriabean islands. Aussies have had their ego punctured and aura demolished by Kiwis and Pomms prior to world cup and this is the way we play our cricket -- hard, rugged and tough, without any mercy. England thumped us 2-1 in 2005 Ashes and then we whitewashed them 5-0 for 1st time in almost a century (85 yrs), England shockingly beat us 3 on 3 in later stages of CB series, they were thumped. We are really looking forward to the clash on Apr 20 when we meet our neighbours with Punter keen to settle the issues with Hussey looking for what journos call a revenge.

And yes SL fans good to ride on a ferry dreams but the reality bites hard and it would bite even harder when any team takes on the best in business -- the Aussies...

Someone said about Warne not good enough to find a place in SL and Muralidharan not good enough to be in Aussie team. Yes later part is true, but Warney is such a legend that he would fit in any great team of any era of any century of test cricket. His wkts come at a bit higher price of runs than Muralidharan, but his wkts are against pricey oppositions like England, South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, SL etc. He has played all but 5 tests against Zim and Ban so his 708 wkts are far better than the wkts of those bowlers who get heap of wkts against hapless batsmen and yet the team are found wanting to pose a decent fight when they travel to down under or even foreign conditions..... For Mahela and company -- the big shots in form of columns in news papers wont help, but the performance on the field would matter and if to win against Aussies they would have to play 300 times better than their normal play. Are they capable enough to do this ? Lets find it out....

It may not be in good taste to knock the Indian team when it is down, but I can't help making the observation that the Indian team in recent times are too serious in their demeanour- far too serious for what is after all a sport.Has any one EVER seen Rahul Dravid smiling?? Look at Tendulkar at the crease - all tensed up to the point of nervous tension. Even guys like Shewag have not shown their lighter side, if ever there is one, on the cricket field. All this may indeed be related to the blue chip pickings within the reach of the Indian side - an atmosphere of 'death or glory' which certainly is not healthy. Indian cricket is heading into a morass
which may not be rescued by Twentyfive Dulkars leave aside Ten!! They should take a page from the Sri Lankans whose relaxed attitude and genuine enjoyment of the game is quite obvious to anyone.

Mark,
There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that the Aussies at the moment are the best team by far. However i think you need to acknowledge the fact that SA,NZ & SL all have the capability to upset the Aussies in a one off game, and this could very well happen in the Semis or the finals ...
The aussies too have their weaknesses and it appears to be their bowling ... We saw a bit of that yesterday, England however i thought threw it away.
SA & NZ have strong batting line ups and will prefer to chase against the Aussies, they might look to keep the Aussies to anything below 325 and look to go after the Aussie bowlers.
Sri Lanka on the other hand will, i believe opt to bat first and look for at least 275 (The lankan top order needs to do a lot better than it has + Jayasuriya will need to fire), they should fancy defending this kind of total given the bowling options they have got. I am looking forward to the battle between the Aussie batters and the Lankan bowlers ....
The way it's looking at the moment looks like SA will finish 4th and an SA Vs AUS semi final is on the cards. I've got this funny feeling that the South Africans are going to be luckier the 2nd time around.(maybe it's just wishful thinking).
Anyways i'm going to be rooting for anyone but Australia - Sorry mate but 3 times in a row is just too much for me to take.

agreed,,
Aussies are the best team now.. No SL guy or anyother will object....
But we know mother cricket...great balancer of fortunes...lets all wait and stop the hatred here.

Am SL fan and have to say some of our guys in the tread have gone overboard here.COme on guys Ind is also a good team and they had some bad days

For Buster : For this imagine the pressure of a billion fans, scrutiny of media channels ready to make or break the players, they have to be on their feet...Indian team is lot better than what it appears to be rt now. I very well remember the 2003-04 series vs them in Australia. Ppl were so enthrilled by the test cricket the 2 countries played. No other test series in Aussie land has been so close ever in my recent memory. Have some respect for the man whom Bradman said he played much like to him. And you guys seem to be making more hype and hoopla of SL team...yes they r playing best cricket f their lives, but this is not good enuf to beat Aussies.

For Shafy :

How abt SL being given the WC trophy rt on ? SA are no match for Aussies, they get choked by slow bowling and they r the biggest chokers in world cricket, perhaps you guys forgot how SL reached Super 6 in 2003 at SA s expense on that famous miscalculation from Polly. mate you hv got too much sugar minty thinking for SL and against Aussies, but i really feel happy to see that a thought of upsetting Aussies gives u immense pleasure, so let me leave u with it. Bowlers of likes of Mcgrath, Johnson, Bracken, Stewy, Hoggie appears weaker ? The 1st man of the lineup is capable enough to destroy any line up of world, let alone be it Lanka or Africa. Let me not pinch u more, else you d rip me off like that poor Sam....But a wishful thought is good enuf to give u a bit happiness.....But only till the toss b.w Mahela and Punter.......Go man dreams calling, perhaps SL would beat Aussies by 10 wkts ya ?

I have read with interest all the comments about the quality of commentators in this world cup.
I am quite disappointed with our own man, Ranjith Fernando who is simply miserable.

Following are nine good reasons why I think Fernando should not be in the present International panel of commentators.

1. He repeats what the other commentators are saying and hardly adds anything new.
2. He speaks of the bleeding obvious ‘Batsman plays and misses’
3. His English is pathetic e.g. ‘try and do this, try and do that’ /ending often by ‘as well’
4. His sentences are too long – he wastes too many words to say simple things.
5. He tries to compensate his lack of flow by resorting to bigger words and fails miserably.
5. His sense of humour is zero.
6. He doesn’t analyse the game properly.
7. He is too biased towards Sri Lanka.
8. His general knowledge of Sri Lanka is seriously poor.
9. My mute button doesn’t function any more – perhaps by overuse.

I suggest we try Sidath Wettimuny, in place of Fernando in the future.

Being a keen naturalist, I must admit that I have often been disappointed if not annoyed when local cricket commentators ignored to put a name to the wildlife, which the cameramen take great trouble to focus in between cleavages and cricket. While watching cricket matches on TV, played in Australia, I have often turned to my copy of Pizzey’s ‘Australian Bird Field Guide’ to identify birds such as Magpie Larks and Silver Gulls caught in camera on the outfield, unassisted by the Aussie commentators. I remember Fernando referring to some Cattle Egrets as ‘birds’ (he is right) and on another occasion maintaining stiff silence when a soaring Brahminy Kite was in full view during matches played here. It would have been nice if he had known their identities & thoughtful enough to relay that information as there are many cricket enthusiasts with interests in wildlife like me who wouldn’t mind such a pleasant distraction, especially when the game is one-sided or boring. At the very least, a modest knowledge of common local wildlife wouldn’t really hurt for cricket commentators especially the ones representing Sri Lanka as we have plenty of colourful life around, Dambulla being one shining example.

Nobody says that Aus is a bad team!

I personally like the aggressive cricket they play.

How aggressive or how smart they are, there is no guarantee that they can win in the semis or final on a given day. Nobody watches cricket if the results are predictable. No fun right?

Considering the current form, SL and NZ have the best chances to play smart cricket on a given day and win against Aus. To win against Aus is a great fun of course if you are not an Aussie :)
So many consecutive wins mean that the probability to lose a match or two will go higher, at least statistically.

The matches involving SL, NZ and Aus are going to be really interesting!
That’s good for the game.

Aggression and smart -- doesnt guranatee they win on gven day. LOL.

Chand mate Aussies have won 25 games on trot in WC across 3 World cups under 2 skippers. Your optimism is fool hardy. NZ yes, they have toppled Aussies prior to WC and they r the only unbeaten team along with Aussies, but chance to beat Aussies are very tough. SL -- do they have a chance ? Look at the batting closely. You d find the answers.

What would do against them ? Bat first or bowl first ? Bowl first, they would hit you for 350+ and then bowl you out for less than 250-270 (suppporting ur optimism), if they bowl first they would blow the team in dust, and then chase the target with ease.

Sorry to say but SL batting rt now is brittle and they have came thus far owing to their bowlers. Let them gain some form first n them dream for their victory!!!!

OK mark,
agreed

Hey Sam,

One (NZ) down... One (Aus) to go...

I read most of the comments indicating that SL is not a good side, and all the ladidadida…about the individual players. I cannot the wipe the smile off my face today, after seeing SL beat NZ quite comprehensively. They get better and better with each game they play. Well done guys, bring it on with Ausssies. A Martian your prediction is spot on.

No arguments about the Aussies being the better side - but i do think u are getting a bit carried away mate ...
Aussies score 350 against the lankan bowling attack ????? Dream on buddy ....
Aussies go in as the favourites cos the lanakan batting has been inconsistent ....

To Radee. You are so right, King Chuck has been cleared by everyone who has examined him, but that only happens in the LAB. As Martin Crowe said the biomechanics people should observe King Chuck when he is chucking in the actual games.The solution of course is to strap the King's chucking arm with splints for the actual games.This will ensure that King Chuck cannot manipulate the rules of a fair delivery.
For your information,I am Asian, however I am ashamed that the rules of this wonderful game have been tarnished and furthermore supported to pacify Asians. King Chuck is not the only one, there are many others and they too should be brougt to task.
I am saying shame on the ICC for taking away the powers of the umpires, just as I say much shame on Malcolm Speed for his ban on Shahid Afridi, that he imposed while in Dubai and over ruled Chris Broad who was the match adjudicator and at the game. I condemn the unspotsmanlike behaviour of the Australians and the South Africans and I salute the Sri Lankans who are standing up to them.
No Radee, I am not a judge or a great bowler. I played a good deal of cricket to a good club level for a number of years, but have never once been called for chucking. I also salute all the umpires who have called these chuckers and cannot do so any more. King Chuck should join the Dart Throwing League. Ole, Bishen Singh Bedi for calling it the way it is, even at the expense of his own countryman,Harbajan Singh, who would be a strong contender for the crown of the King Chuck.

Hi Terry, I think you are sadly out of touch. Infact he bowled with straps in England and showed that he can get the same turn for off spin as well as the wrong one. You and Martin Crowe never seems to have heard this. So do a search in the Crickinfo and update yourself. And the leading wicket taker in world cup cricket bends his arm from the elbow 12 degrees and this was discovered under match conditions, as many other leading bowlers did. Fastest bowlers who are exceeding 160Kmph were bending even more. You know from which countries, these bowlers come. There is a Sri Lankan saying that you do not see a beam in your eye but can see a hair in others eye. Terry and Martin are living examples for this. So the rules have to be same for everyone. Even if Murali bowls with the straps he will get the same turn as proved in England for TV cameras sometime back.

i think the lankans have got potential & enough capability to make the aussies run for their money.great bowling attack,in form batsmen and right attitude.hope they reach the finals and bring glory to asia as my team india has already lost.all the very best to the lankan lions!

Non-Vegetarian Third Party : Thanks so much, I felt like I am crying and as sinhala speaking Lankans we are longing for peace. I want our president to see you comment and i will definitely post this one to show we are one and only nation not just tamils & sinhalese. I totally agree that Hindu priests , christian priests too should give the blessings.

To: Jacques X
Thanks for airing the actual state regarding our country. To tell the damn truth we as sinhala speaking lankans, don't have the slightest grudge with any etnic lankan, and we don't care who follows what religion and which god they believe. No one is forced to go to the temple except the catholics and muslims but in school learning the religion according to their own ethnicity is mandatory. Isn't it a good thing. And the other thing is that who ever bless us before we set out for occasion is something has to do with our culture and of course we will accept it with pleasure, because we think that who ever bless us is blessing us for the best.

To Valavan: You seems to be sick and be sure to get some medicine before you place any comments in this blog or any other blog. I don't know whether you are an Indian or a Sri lankan Tamil, but your comments make you look like meniac rather than intelligent blogger. So please don't make your self a joke in this intelligent spacea and please respect others ideas too.

Stumbled upon this heart warming article (I'm a Sri Lankan). However, I do find Mr Kesevan's concerns regarding Buddhist nationalism misplaced. I'm a Hindu Tamil and I feel very comfortable about the team obtaining blessings from the Buddhist clergy (I'm sure so would Murali and Arnold, both Tamils, and the other non-Buddhists in the team). Majority of Lankans tend to be laid back and rather agnostic in our approach to religion, faith or philosophy; this is our unique island tradition. Mr Kesevan has nothing to fear.

All this talk of SL beating Aus and they being the best in business is rubbish and one sided talk. SL is not even able to withstand the Aussie backlash when the chips were down and in the end it was a stroll in the park for them to get rid of their over hyped opponents. And it was ridiculous and complacent and baffling for SL to leave out the 2 best bowlers for the best team in the world. ICC is for sure going to take SL to task for this baffling step. Can you afford to take Aussies lightly ? And if for the sake of break, then SL seems to have lost the plot now. Not only they have lost momentum but also a chance to top the pool and get an easy game in St Lucia...I hope now Lanka fans come down on earth and look at the things with more cool and real perspective

There is much comment about the Buddhist monks blessing the cup. I agree with those who argue that being a majority Buddhist country it is a cultural tradition and not a religious imposition.

Also I wish to point out that Buddhists akckowledge and respect other religions and Buddhist blessings include people of other faiths and they are NOT required to convert to Buddhism. Thus when a Buddhist monk bless the cricket team they are also blessing the non-Buddhist members as well.

There are many sports teams from Christian and Muslim countries who express their religious beliefs openly on the sports field ... even Sri lankan cricketers Vass and Dilhara (both Catholics) often mark the cross across their chest before starting a bowling spell. It is shown very clearly on TV footage and mind you no Buddhist cricket fan nor the establishment has asked them not to do it in front of TV cameras.

Buddhists are tolerant people who respect other religions and I hope those who are non-Buddhist make an attempt to understand that.

@Anand Sharma
You are a genius to see through Sri Lanka's cunning plans.

Terry you make me laugh with your comments mate. you seems like you lost your mind. I'm srilankan. of course i support my team. i think aussies are one good team who can knock any team in the world. (except srilanka) only team that has the ability to upset aussies is srilanka and you know that ! lol..you should do a reality check mate. you seems to be carried away so much for this "Winning all the matches thing" and keep in mind you can't always win. the great murali magic and the lasith fast bowling will make life of aussies a hard one in the finals.. count on me buddy. so will see you after the finals. of course you are going to lose. i will post a nice picture of lankan lions holding the world cup just to make sure you don't say "Oh well thats a Photoshop.." LOL

i just can not understand the comments like chalaka in my personal opinion both teams are equally talented nothing to with middle order batting weaknesses or any thing. i definitely saw a remarkable change in our team's playing strategy. being a 40 years old man(Srilankan-australian) i recollect the past one day cricket matches where if the SL has lost 3 or 4 early wickets whole things were over we would have tumbled down to a meagre total and no body was capable of rebuilding the innings to achieve a respectable total. but there is total turnaround in specifically in this tournament.SL rebuilt their inning to a great score several times by anchoring in the wicket.we invented the first 15 overs blast by our master blaster, however, i am in the strong opinion best way of playing cricket to amass a huge total and to bat all 50 overs is to play a rather normal cricket game keeping wickets atleast until any team reach 150 at expense of 3 or 4 wickets with 35 overs mark at this stage bowlers are really weary and they become frustrated and last 15 overs they can start the fire play.we have won several games in this tournament in the similar fashion.any way today's game is just another cricket game a slight error from any of the two team will lead to a defeat mainly due to the fact both teams are equally shining and competent.both teams comprise of excellent performers. i am looking forward to a nail biting battle instead of a one sided victory.