Sri Lanka’s cricket legend Kumar Sangakkara believes that the team he once played for could pose a significant challenge to the top favorites especially India and England in the upcoming World Cup scheduled to take place from October 5 to November 19 in India.
Citing Sri Lanka’s recent performance in the Asia Cup and taking into account the nation’s impressive track record in ICC tournaments, Sangakkara expressed his belief that Sri Lanka could emerge as a formidable contender on the global stage.
“While I consider England and India to be the leading favorites, I closely observed Sri Lanka’s performance in the Asia Cup’s last game. Sri Lanka has historically excelled in major tournaments,” remarked Sangakkara.
With the World Cup featuring ten teams, Sri Lanka is poised to be a potent threat, having demonstrated their ability to challenge the top-class batting line-ups of India and Pakistan with their emerging bowling attack, especially in the absence of key frontline bowlers.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka’s batting line-up appears to be finely tuned, displaying a positive mindset and a strategically organized top-six batting order, ideally suited for the One-Day format, just 18 days before the tournament commences in India.
Sangakkara highlighted the importance of the “playoff” stage, where teams must secure victories to advance further in the tournament and contend for the World Cup.
“Once a team reaches the playoffs, a single outstanding performance can lead them to the final. While there are several strong contenders among the seven to eight competitive teams, I would consider England and India as the strongest. However Sri Lanka among a few others, could pose a real challenge,” said Sangakkara.
