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SL seeks salvation at Buddhist seat of learning
Sri Lanka's one-day team will make a fresh start under new skipper Marvan Atapattu in the ancient Buddhist town of Dambulla in central Sri Lanka in a tri-series cricket series involving Pakistan and New Zealand.
Sri Lanka's one-day team will make a fresh start under new skipper Marvan Atapattu in the ancient Buddhist town of Dambulla in central Sri Lanka in a tri-series cricket series involving Pakistan and New Zealand.
Sri Lanka rode its luck to make the World Cup semi-finals in South Africa two months ago, but had a miserable time in a four-nation tournament in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, that led to Sanath Jayasuriya quitting as captain.
The Sri Lankan selectors had to look for a new skipper after Jayasuriya refused to budge from his stance that the country should groom a younger captain.
The task of reviving former World champion Sri Lanka's one-day reputation has fallen on opener Atapattu, who landed in hospital after a mid-pitch collision with New Zealander Daniel Vettori earlier this week.
Atapattu said Friday he had recovered from the mild concussion and ankle injuries.
Sri Lanka plays Pakistan in the opening match Saturday of the May 10-23 series that involves a double-leg preliminary league, followed by the title showdown between the top two teams.
The first leg of the series will be played at Dambulla's Rangiri Stadium, which two years ago was built on land given by the famed Rangiri Dambulla Temple, a centuries-old seat of Buddhist learning.
Familiar conditions and home pitches make Sri Lanka feel comfortable, but it is not the overwhelming favorite with several of its players going through an extended rough patch. The favorite tag rests with New Zealand, which failed to go past the World Cup's preliminary league but is a settled side going into this series.
Coming out from the drawn two-test series against Sri Lanka, Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming will be seeking to improve its overseas one-day record, which just boasts of one limited-over title _ the 2000 ICC Trophy in Nairobi, Kenya, when it beat India in the final.
The Black Caps will be missing attacking opener Nathan Astle, who is recovering from a knee surgery, but its team has been reinforced by the arrival of seasoned campaigners Chris Cairns and Chris Harris, who are among the six changes in the one-day side.
Like Sri Lanka, Pakistan is in the rebuilding process with its team having just six remnants from the World Cup squad that was eliminated from the World Cup's first round.
The Pakistan board decided to drop eight aging stars, which included captain Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Skipper Rashid Latif, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Abdur Razzak, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami are the only survivors from the World Cup. Latif had announced his retirement during the World Cup, but agreed to accept the captaincy for the second time.
Failing to qualify for the final of last month's Sharjah Cup after its loss to rank outsider Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka has recalled World Cup discards wicketkeeper Romesh Kaluwitharana and all-rounder Upul Chandana to boost the batting.
Attacking strokemaker Mahela Jayawardena and left-handed all-rounder Russel Arnold, both of whom lost their places for the Sharjah tournament after poor World Cup performances, are back in the side.
