Sri Lanka's Line-up [Merged]

[Juggernaut]

I was just trying to figure out what Sri Lanka's lineup maybe atleast for the first ODI. Here's what i came up with:

Tharanga
Jayasuriya
Sangakarra
Jaywardene
Samaraweera
Kandamby
Mathews
Kulasekara
Malinga
Mendis
Murali

Top 4 are the same 4 from the T20 final except for thuranga. I put Samaraweera in at 5 as he is one of their best batsman and probably will play. Not many people will have heard of this fella Kandamby but he scored a 100 today in the warm up game. The rest is fairly predictable: Mathews is the all rounder, the three M's have to play and then ofcourse their star performer in the test series Kulasekara. So how does this compare with our line-up? Maybe i should have posted this in the 'Pakistan squad for Sri lanka odi's' if so Mods please merge it.

[Inswinger]

Is Dilshan playing?

[jusarrived]

this is one of the strongest SL batting lineups i have seen .....Mathews changes the balance of the side to a large extent

[Juggernaut]

Is Dilshan playing?

Sorry my bad he isn't in the squad ... i've edited my earlier post

[ahmed16]

I was just trying to figure out what Sri Lanka's lineup maybe atleast for the first ODI. Here's what i came up with:

Tharanga
Jayasuriya
Sangakarra
Jaywardene
Samaraweera
Kandamby
Mathews
Kulasekara
Malinga
Mendis
Murali

Top 4 are the same 4 from the T20 final except for thuranga. I put Samaraweera in at 5 as he is one of their best batsman and probably will play. Not many people will have heard of this fella Kandamby but he scored a 100 today in the warm up game. The rest is fairly predictable: Mathews is the all rounder, the three M's have to play and then ofcourse their star performer in the test series Kulasekara. So how does this compare with our line-up? Maybe i should have posted this in the 'Pakistan squad for Sri lanka odi's' if so Mods please merge it.

That looks like a brilliant side.....sorry to say but one that will destroy Pakistan.

[Inswinger]

I doubt Samaraweera will play. He's an excellent Test batsman but not nearly as good in ODIs.

[Juggernaut]

That looks like a brilliant side.....sorry to say but one that will destroy Pakistan.

Yeah I'm a little worried now ... the only percievable weakness is tharanga at the top but he averages 30 and is technically pretty good and kandamby but as i said he cracked a 100 today

[Usman Chadda]

This Sri Lankan ODI team look capable of smashing us into outer-space! Just look at the names in that squad and each just sends a shiver down your spine. Plus they have a pretty shrewd captain in Sangakkara, who I think was quite innovative and quick with his thinking during the T20 World Cup (until his team ran into the 'Afridi Show' i.e.)

Tharanga and Jayasuriya have ripped better bowling attacks apart. Anyone who remembers the rampage these two went on against the English 3 years back will know just how unbelievably dangerous these two can be. Sangakkara and Jayawardene to follow, both have incredible experience and both can play long innings whilst also maintaining a decent strike-rate. Kapugedera, this guy is a monster once he gets going. You need to get him very early or he pummels the bowling attack to all parts of the ground. Hasn't yet fulfilled his potential, but on song he is a delight to watch

Matthews has given this line-up a new out-look really. Can bat really well, pretty good in the field and his medium-pacers will be more than handy in these conditions. Has the ability to whack the ball aswell. Man, the more I see this line-up, the more horrifying it gets. Every one of the top 6 is capable of taking on the bowlers and depositing them all over the park! Samaraweera or Kandamby might be the only weaklinks in this line-up as they both haven't played ODI cricket for a while now. Apart from that, oo lala :|

The bowling is even more mind-blowing. Kulasekara, numero uno in the world atm, no details needed there. He'll always be there and there-abouts causing mayhem for our batsmen. Malinga, was in ferocious form during the T20 WC, so much so that our batsmen were struggling to even read him. Will be even more of a handful in the longer format. Muraliatharan and Mendis, what can I say about these two really? Yeah I know we dominated these two in Test cricket, but ODI cricket will be a different test. Murali ran through us on flat, patta wickets when SL toured us on that unfortunate tour. Thushara is in great form, seaming the ball around. Udana will be even tricker on these slow, low bounce surfaces with his annoying slower deliveries. The bowling attack looks amazing seriously, where is the weak-link in there?!

I seriously do think we are running into a storm here. Add to that the fact that they missed out on a World Cup trophy thanks to the same team, this SL team will be even hungrier to make amends for what happened. Also add to that the fact that our ODI team is one of the crappiest ones I have seen for a long long time, this does not look good. Not one bit...

(Hoping against hope this turns out to be a jinx thread :D , because we'll need a lot of luck to get anywhere near this Sri Lankan team)

[zarak]

no not really

[saadjhussain]

LOL, our line up should send shivers down their spine

[Usman Chadda]

IMO our best chance of winning something on this tour was the test series where the Lankans had a decent team. I think the teams were evenly matched and if it weren't for the brain-farts of our batsmen, we could easily have taken the series

ODIs is a different matter altogether it seems. That side looks capable of giving the likes of South Africa, India, Australia serious competition!

[BD-fan]

The best batsman is not playing. Dilshan. So Pakistan bowling should be happy.

[Afridi_Fan]

Dont worry Usman, they still have to cope with :afridi:

[Punisher]

I think you are being pessimistic for no reason, yes Sri Lanka do have an established batting attack who have been well capable of scoring runs against any opposition, however, in case of Pakistan most of the time SRL end up under-performing. So basically, no matter how great the oppositions batting is they are only going to score as much as we let them score.

Even during the trial match today, although we lost but that was not the point, we gained some good experience and also in case of Akmal Jr. Inshallah a talent for the future. The way I see it both teams are on par in terms of performance, although on paper SRL appear strong, but when have Pakistani fans ever believed paper strength, if that was the case then we should've easily lost against the likes of SAF and SRL during T20.

So basically, it comes down a match-up between Pakistan's bowling and Sri Lankas's batting, whoever prevails in the end will be the victor. Pak batsmen just need to make sure that they perform on an equal level to the hardwork put in by the bowlers. Come match day, I know that the likes of Nazir, Jamshed, Razzaq & Rana will perform with the bat, however Rana with the ball is a worrying prospect.

[zulfiqar]

If SL are strong then I don't think you need to look far to see that Pak is strong in ODI's as well. We also have match-winners and with Alam getting more notice he won't miss this chance to score big. Look out for BIG performances from Malik & Misbah who i am sure will not disappoint, and not to mention the calming presence of YK/MoYo. Our bowling is a worry but I think these games will be run-fests anyways so all they have to do is keep things under the lid. A great chance of Aamer on ODI debut and a chance for Gul to rectify his pathetic performance in the tests. One of Razzaq or Umar Akmal might get a chance... watch out for fireworks.

We have plenty in store, and SL is not a superbly-established ODI team or anything... (India just beat them on their last visit). We should be OK!

[buddhika_s]

Tharanga won't play but Udawatta will. Kapugedera might also get a chance.

[Juggernaut]

Tharanga won't play but Udawatta will. Kapugedera might also get a chance.

he's not in the squad

[LionHeart]

I don't know why they're persisting with Upul "The Edge" Tharanga for so long. He's got technical issues and hasn't solved them yet. Since Dilshan's not available I'd send Angelo to open with Sanath and get in Samaraweera & Kapugedera at 5 and 6. I don't know what's wrong with Maharoof, I thought this guy would lead the SL attack someday but sadly he's fast becoming our own Tanvir.

But which ever team SL puts out for the series, Pak shouldn't worry too much because we're yet to win an ODI series at home after the 2007 WC... even lost to England for cryin out loud!

[iZeeshan]

Isn't Kapugedera going to play over Samarweera?

Or are they going to make him open and drop Tharanga, because Tharanga was the reason Dilshan started opening.

[Khabri420]

It'll be interesting to see how Samaraweera plays in this series as he's been consistently overlooked for ODIs and been labeled a Test player.

[dani2k]

I would replace Samara with Kapugedara...Otherwise the squad in the OP is as good as any SL team I have ever seen.