Chamara Silva gets last slot in Sri Lanka's World Cup squad

Ashantha confident of Lanka's chances :

Dinesh Weerawansa

WORLD CUP: National coach Ashantha de Mel said Sri Lanka stands a good chance of winning the 2007 ICC World Cup as they field a formidable team which is a rich blend of experience and youth.

De Mel's predictions came after the four-member national cricket selection committee finalised the 15-member Sri Lanka squad for the ICC World Cup tournament which is due to commence in the Caribbean Islands later next month.

The last slot of the 15-member Sri Lanka squad for the World Cup went to 27-year-old right handed batsman Chamara Silva, who survived a keen competition with Chamara Kapugedara and Gayan Wijekoon. But at the end, Silva, who has played just 13 one day internationals before, was given the last berth of the Lankan squad.

"We had to decide the final slot between Chamara Silva, Kapugedara and Wijekoon. Silva had a successful tour of New Zealand last year and we thought he is the best out of the three who were in contention for the final berth," said the chief selector.

De Mel, who had a record haul of 17 wickets at the 1983 Prudential World Cup in England, said Sri Lanka has a well balanced squad packed with experience and youth.

"We have two of the masters in the business in Sanath Jayasuriya who is the most feared batsman in the world and the world's best spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Sanath is a player who could change the rhythm of a game in a few minutes. Similarly, Murali too could change a game dramatically with his magical bowling," said De Mel.

The chairman of selectors said the presence of left-arm quick bowler Chaminda Vaas is a huge plus point for Sri Lanka. "He is one of the best fast bowlers who has a sound economy rate. With Murali and Vaas around, and Dilhara Fernando and Jayasuriya to support, Sri Lanka's bowling armoury looks accurate," he pointed out.

De Mel, who has the honour of accounting for the first Test wicket for SriLanka in removing England's Geoff Cook 25 years ago, said skipper Mahela Jayawardene and his deputy Kumar Sangakkara could hold the key to Sri Lanka's batting along with dashing Jayasuriya and reliable Marvan Atapattu.

"We have several youngsters who too could make their presence felt. We have a solid middle order," he continued.

With Jayasuriya set to face the new ball with either Upul Tharanga or veteran Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lanka's middle order looks steady with Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan to follow.

De Mel said there were many critics since they took over as selectors but the performance both at national and youth level have silenced those.

"Our national team has been shaping well in recent times under Tom Moody. That shows we too have made right decisions. Similarly, Sri Lanka Under-19 team beat England Under-19 to win the recent triangular tournament," he added.

"There were baseless allegations regarding team selections there. The critics cited Royalist Kusal Janith's selection to the Under-19 team stating I am favouring my old school. But at the end, the critics were proved wrong as that boy performed well. We do not have any personal interest but my country comes first when it comes to selections," de Mel explained.

As de Mel has pointed out, Sri Lanka will have the luxury of having some of the most experienced men in the game today. Besides the most capped ODI player in the world - Jayasuriya (377 matches), Sri Lanka has four more players who have figured in more than 200 ODIs.

The five players alone have played in a total of 1,454 matches, which speaks volumes of experience that Sri Lanka squad's five of the most capped players have.

Sri Lanka has been drawn in Group 'B' along with India, Bangladesh and Bermuda for forthcoming ICC World Cup which is due to commence on March 13. Sri Lanka will launch their World Cup campaign with a match against Bermuda on March 15.

Their two remaining first round league matches will be played on March 21 (vs. Bangladesh) and 23 (vs. India). All three matches will be played at the Queens Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

In the warm-up match schedule for the participating teams, Sri Lanka will play Scotland on March 5 and New Zealand on March 9. Both games will be played in Bridgetown. The 16 participating teams have been drawn into four groups to play on a quarter league basis from March 13 with Pakistan meeting the hosts West Indies in the 'curtain raiser' game at Sabina Park, Kingston.

Sri Lanka squad for the World Cup: Mahela Jayawadene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara (vice captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Marvan Atapattu, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Chamara Silva, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekera, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara, Tom Mooday (coach).