ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 44: SL vs IND – Sri Lanka Predicted Playing XI

For a team that has been undergoing transition for quite some time now and given their performance in the last 12 months, Sri Lanka would feel quite satisfied with their World Cup 2019 campaign. They’ve managed to stun the tournament favourites England. The other two wins came against Afghanistan and the Windies while they were actually lucky with two games being washed out.

Their performance in the last match was really good and this will surely raise the team’s morale. Sri Lanka will be facing India in their final league game of the tournament. After the performance in the last match, the Lankans might not want to tinker around much with their eleven and will want to maintain the consistency.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for Sri Lanka

Openers (Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Kusal Perera (wk))

Dimuth Karunaratne might be considered a long-term prospect as the leader of the ODI team given his performance in the tournament. With the bat, he had his shares of brilliance and has got off to starts on most occasions. However, the strike rates and the consistency are two factors that he’d want to improve upon.

Kusal Perera was great in the last game and got his team off to a great start. He scored 64 runs off 51 balls and laid a solid foundation for his team. The wicket-keeper batsman has generally been quite good in the tournament and Sri Lanka will want him to maintain the consistency against India as well.

Middle Order (Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne)

It was quite refreshing to see a Sri Lankan batsman get to the triple figures after a while. Avishka Fernando was the one who did it in the last game and played a brilliant knock. In the 9 ODIs that he played thus far, Fernando has looked quite promising and could evolve into one of the most important batsmen in this line-up if he maintains the consistency.

Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews got off to good starts against Windies but that won’t be always enough. Facing the Indian bowlers will be a different challenge altogether and they’ve got to make the most of the starts. Mathews bowling after nearly two years and doing the job for his team in the last game was pleasing to see. Lahiru Thirimanne looked good down the order finishing off things and should hold onto his spot in all likelihood.

All Rounders (Dhananjaya de Silva, Isuru Udana)

Both Dhananjaya de Silva and Isuru Udana didn’t have much to do with the bat against Windies after how the top-order and the middle order fared. Both these all-rounders completed their quota of 10 overs with the ball. While De Silva was economical enough, Isuru Udana conceded runs at a fair clip. These two have got to take more responsibility and come up with better performances.

Bowlers (Jeffrey Vandersay, Kasun Rajitha, Lasith Malinga)

The Sri Lanka bowlers conceded 27 extra to the Windies in their last game. Considering the stage where they are playing, this is completely unacceptable. While 20 of those were wides, 2 were no-balls. This is an area where they’ve all got to improve big time against much stronger opposition. Jeffrey Vandersay might hold onto his place in the team.

Kasun Rajitha has got to be more economical with the ball. He should take a cue from Lasith Malinga and bowl similar tight lines and lengths. The veteran bowler was excellent in the previous game. He picked up three wickets and conceded 55 runs in his 10 overs. Malinga will want to finish on a high in what is potentially his last World Cup game.