COLOMBO: After helping launch Sri Lanka into the cricket elite with a surprising run at the 1996 World Cup, Muttiah Muralitharan wants to culminate his career by reclaiming the title. The 38-year-old spinner, already the most prolific wickettaker in Test and limited-over international cricket, plans to retire after the World Cup, which is being co-hosted by Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India and being staged in Asia for the first time since Sri Lanka's upset victory 15 years ago. “In 2003 we entered semis and in 2007 we reached final. We had good teams but we could not win the cup,” Muralitharan said. “But this time I think we have a chance.” The 1996 tournament is remembered for the pinch hitting by Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana which capitalized on the early field restrictions. The three ‘M's of Sri Lanka's bowling attack – unorthodox paceman Lasith Malinga, veteran off-spinner Muralitharan and mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis – can turn any match on its head. Malinga's knack of churning out yorkers at will, coupled with wily Muralitharan's ability to keep a tight lid on the scoring rates, might tip the scales in Sri Lanka's favor. Add to that the mysterious “carrom ball” from Mendis and Sri Lanka have a bowling attack that can make life miserable for any batting line-up. “In our bowling attack, we have so much variety. It's important to keep other teams off balance when they are batting and we can achieve that with our attack,” Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said. “Having Lasith and Murali in the side is a huge privilege and it takes a lot of pressure off the other bowlers.” Sri Lanka plays all but one of its Group A matches on home ground. The selectors, led by former cricketer Aravinda de Silva, had some hard choices to make and found no place in the squad for De Silva's teammates from the 1996 side, Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas. “Unfortunately we had to make some very tough decisions concerning some of the newer players like (Suraj) Randiv and some of the older players like Vaasy and Sanath,” Sangakkara said. “Those were extremely difficult decisions but had to be made to have the right combinations for the World Cup.” Jayasuriya's place at the top of the order has gone to another left-hander, Upul Tharanga who, with the explosive Tillakaratne Dilshan, forms an attacking opening pair for the island nation. Dilshan, the author of the famous scoop shot over the head of the wicketkeeper, has often thrown away his wicket trying to hit almost every delivery for a boundary. On paper, the Sri Lankan lower middle order looks a bit light. Thilan Samaraweera, with an ODI strike-rate of 68.67, and Chamara Kapugedera, who averages a mere 22.85, have failed to dispel doubts about their power-hitting abilities during the late stage of the innings. “Sri Lanka has built a good team but my only worry is their middle order,” World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga said recently. “We had a strong middle order in 1996 but this team has better bowlers and both Muralitharan and Malinga are match-winners.” The onus of scoring quick runs during the slog overs will invariably fall on supremely talented all-rounder Angelo Mathews. Mathews, who bowls medium pace and averages more than 35 with the bat at a strike rate of almost 83.07, is deemed to provide the necessary balance in the team. Sangakkara knows the importance of runs from his top order. “We have to make sure the batsmen understand that even though you have 20 overs of power play, the key to putting up considerable totals is to bat as long as possible,” he said. “Our bowling unit has been doing extremely well over the past two to three years. Now the batsmen have to make sure they back them up as much as possible with runs batting first or second.”
