The national cricket team of Sri Lanka is known as the Sri Lankan Cricket team. This team is administrated by the Sri Lanka Cricket board. Sri Lanka's participation in the initial World Cups were hardly remarkable, in fact till 1996, Sri Lanka had not progressed beyond the first round. In 1996, Sri Lanka surprised everyone by becoming the world champions.


The Sri Lanka Cricket team first played international cricket in 1975. In 1981 it was given the status to play test matches becoming the eight-test nation. The 1996 Sri Lanka Cricket team showed remarkable performance becoming the World Champions. The strongest players include Sanath Jayasuriya , Aravinda de Silva, backed up by the accurate bowling of Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan.





Sri Lankan cricket team has undergone massive changes over the years. The resurgence was initiated by Arjuna Ranatunga and reached its crescendo in the World Cup triumph in 1996. Sri Lanka was simply unbeatable in the tournament and won it without losing a single match. This was a remarkable achievement in the light of the fact that Sri Lanka had never advanced beyond the preliminary round of all the previous World Cups it had participated.

The present Sri Lankan team is in a wonderful form and has never looked more confident. In the recent NatWest series in May 2006, Sri Lanka vanquished the host England by a margin of 5-0. This was England's biggest defeat in years. Sri Lanka's win was aided by some excellent performances from some of its key players like Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan and Mahela Jayawardene. The reason for Sri Lanka's stupendous success especially in ODIs lie in its being a very balanced side.




Sanath Jayasuriya has been one of the most destructive batsmen in recent years. It was chiefly Jayasuriya's ability to destroy the best of bowling that won Sri Lanka the 1996 World Cup. Muttiah Muralitharan is a genuine match winner for Sri Lanka. Jayawardene's performance in the England affirmed his importance in the team. Though the retirement and aging of some of the leading players has bore some effect on the team, the youngsters are trying to keep up the tempo going.

Sri Lanka should post a decent challenge in 2007 world cup. The team has at its disposal the services one of the most destructive batsmen in the world- Jayasuriya and arguably the best spinner in the world- Muralitharan. Jayasuria is in the form of his life and has never looked any younger. Not many would disagree that all the teams within the top six ranking have an equal possibility of winning the World Cup 2007.