Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Not for the first time Lasith Malinga will carry the hopes of Sri Lanka on his back when they get their Cricket World Cup underway in England.
Sri Lanka have not been at their best over the past year or so in the white-ball version of the game and they will not be one of the fancied sides before the tournament begins.
Any hopes they have of causing some kind of upset will be down to Malinga, according to his former team-mate Chaminda Vaas.
"He will be the key for Sri Lanka cricket in the upcoming World Cup," he said.
"There is no doubt that Malinga is one of the best in the world and the best in Sri Lanka. We depend on him as a bowler and he showed his leadership qualities."
Sri Lanka announced their 15-man squad for the World Cup last week and Vaas believes the selectors have got the right mix, despite the team's poor performance in the ODI format over the past year.
"For the last few months, Sri Lanka hasn't done so well. But if you analyse the combination of the team which we picked for the World Cup, I'm pretty sure that the selectors have done the right thing," he added.
Sri Lanka's opening match of the World Cup is against New Zealand on June 1 in Cardiff.
Sri Lanka World Cup squad:
Dimuth Karunaratne (captain), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal
