Jagath Perera
Having lost 24 of their last 28 completed ODIs, expectations are low and prospects are bleak.
Their captain has scored all of 267 one-day international runs, their best player is a grumpy 35-year-old fast bowler, their top order is fragile, their spin stocks are thin, their fielding is frequently comical and their coach was fearing for his job only months ago. Have any previous champions ever arrived at a World Cup in such disarray as Sri Lanka?
Having lost 24 of the last 28 ODIs they have completed, expectations are low and predictions are bleak. Can they manage one upset win? Can they avoid the wooden spoon? Will they even be competitive?
How Sri Lanka, a top-four ODI team only five years ago, nosedived this dramatically, is a long and involved tale featuring (you guessed it) self-interested administrators, a bloated domestic system, nefarious political intrusions and a baffling tendency to change coaches, captains and players at the first hint of failure…