Lanka's captain and vice-captain respectively, have both warned that Pakistan are a dangerous side that other teams will be wary of in the World Cup. Not too many people have tipped Pakistan to win the tournament, after a tumultuous year for them in which they have been plagued by off-field issues, but Jayawardene said he was surprised by the lack of hype around them.
"I find it surprising that their name is not bandied about in the mix of potential World Cup winners as they have brilliant match winners with both bat and ball," Jayawardene wrote on his blog.
Sangakkara echoed that sentiment, saying Pakistan's batsmen were dangerous. "Any opposition is wary of them and we're not going to take anything lightly or for granted," he said. He was, however, confident that his bowlers would be up to the task, particularly with what he described as a "vastly improved" pace attack. Lasith Malinga has been Sri Lanka's most successful bowler in the one-day format over the past year, and Thisara Perera, who seemed to have added a couple of yards of pace to his bowling in Sri Lanka's opening match against Canada, has been the second highest wicket-taker.
