Work-in-progress Sri Lanka face tough challenges ahead

The Outlook: With the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, and injury to their strike bowler Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka arrive in India with a weakened side, at least on paper, and will find it tough to compete with some of the best. Their form over the last few months is a telling tale of how far this Sri Lankan side has fallen behind in the absence of some of their best.

The men who matter:

Tillakaratne Dilshan is the senior-most member of the side. Not only is he one of the most reliable bets in their brittle batting line-up, but also someone who has lifted his game in big tournaments. He will have to play a massive role if Sri Lanka have to punch above their weight in the upcoming mega-tournament.

ICYMI

While experience and form was always going to be major issues for Sri Lanka, no positive update on Lasith Malinga's recovery from knee injury has added to their woes. He resigned as captain a few days before the start of the tournament and the responsibility was handed over to Angelo Mathews. Nine days into the competition, Sri Lanka's selection panel too underwent a change. There is a lot of chaos on the outside and within.

Five key points

Strength: Sri Lanka's biggest strength lies in the fact that despite being the defending champions they aren't carrying much expectations. With the spotlight focused away from them, they can go out and play freely. Much like the Indian team in the 2007 edition of the tournament, they could spring a few surprises.

Weakness: Sri Lanka's current state of affairs on the field further highlights the importance of some of the seniors in the side. Malinga's fitness issues also continues to be a major setback as they gear up to defend their title.

No Jayawardene, Sangakkara: The Sri Lankan duo left a massive hole in the squad when they announced their retirement, one that hasn't been filled yet. Their combined experience, wisdom and experience of absorbing pressure will be thoroughly missed by the current side.

Form: They have lost 10 of their last 13 T20 Internationals played in the last one year. It's looking pretty grim for the holders at the moment.

One game at a time: With Sri Lanka well aware of the fact that they aren't favourites to defend the title straightaway, they are planning their course in the tournament one game at a time. Angelo Mathews has stated, "Hopefully we can win a few games upfront in order to gain some momentum. Once we get that, we will be very hard to beat."

Spotlight on:

For a long time, Dinesh Chandimal was earmarked as the player who would take Sri Lankan cricket forward, take over from where Jayawardene and Sangakkara left. Even as he has shown glimpses of brilliance time and again, there is still much left wanting. He admitted that a conscious change in batting style had him in a mess. He has reverted to older and more natural style of batting, where he has found more success. Schedule

March 16, Wednesday: versus Afghanistan, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

March 20, Sunday: versus West Indies, M Chinnaswamy, Bengaluru

March 26, Saturday: versus England, Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

March 28, Monday: versus South Africa, Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Expert opinion

- "Sri Lanka did well in Bangladesh with their senior players but now they have a very young team which will take time to build. That's why Sri Lanka's chances (of making semis) are a little less. They are the underdogs." - Virender Sehwag on Sri Lanka's chances.

Bottom Line

Even as this World Cup should be an open contest, with 6-7 teams in with a chance of winning it, Sri Lanka, despite being the defending champions, won't start as the favourites. Lack of experience, injury concerns and poor form coming into the tournament have made them one of the weaker sides in the competition.

Prediction: Super 10.