New captain, new beginning

The ICC World Twenty20 represents an opportunity for Sri Lanka to put behind them the miseries of the last few months. The attack on their team bus in Lahore in March and the armed conflicts in the country have meant the team and the nation have had little to cheer recently. Kumar Sangakkara and Co have the chance to give the country some happy moments over the next couple of weeks.

It's Sangakkara's first series as captain, but he has with him a team which has enough matchwinners to make the debut a memorable one. There's plenty of flair in a batting line-up that has, apart from the captain himself, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan. The bowling attack, led by Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga, has the firepower to be formidable in any conditions, and the team has several swift movers, ensuring that fielding is hardly a liability.

With a 13-8 win-loss record in Twenty20 internationals, Sri Lanka also have one of the better stats in this format. Defeats against Pakistan and Australia deprived them of a semi-final spot in 2007, but with such a balanced line-up they have every chance of making the last four this time.

Being in a tough group - Australia and West Indies are the others in Group C - means they must find form immediately and beat at least one of those two teams to move into the Super Eights. If they make that cut, though, they'll find themselves in the relatively easier group, with Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh as possible group mates.

Strengths

A bowling attack which includes Muralitharan, Malinga, and Ajantha Mendis must fancy their chances against any batting line-up in any conditions. Nuwan Kulasekara and Farveez Maharoof should find the England conditions in June to their liking too, which suggests batting teams will be hard-pressed to post big totals against them. Sri Lanka's top four batsmen are a formidable lot too, and Jayasuriya will be keen to prove that his poor form in the IPL was an aberration.

Weaknesses

The top order is superb, but Sri Lanka have been hit in the past by the lack of batting firepower down the order - it's quite revealing that their run rate of 8.85 in the last six overs of twenty20 internationals is worse than the six other top teams. Chamara Silva, Maharoof and the rest of the lower-order batsmen will need to pull their weight and ensure that their late-overs batting isn't a liability.

X-factor

The starts that Sanath Jayasuriya provides with the bat could go a long way in determining how far Sri Lanka progress in the tournament. Jayasuriya's recent form hasn't been flash - he scored 221 in 12 innings in the IPL - but his ability to turn on the switch can never be underestimated.

Key players

Muralitharan is an obvious matchwinner in the Sri Lankan team, but in conditions likely to assist swing and seam, Lasith Malinga could be more than a handful. He had an outstanding IPL, taking 18 wickets at an economy rate of 6.30, but he'll also need to keep an eye on his radar - his 26 wides were the most by any bowler in the tournament.

Twenty20 form guide

Sri Lanka's record in this format over the last 12 months has been patchy - though they've won three out of five, two of those victories were against Zimbabwe and Canada. What will give them more encouragement is the form of their players in the IPL: Muralitharan and Malinga were terrific, while Dilshan was one of the most consistent batsmen and finished with the fifth-highest aggregate.

Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Jehan Mubarak, Chamara Silva, Indika de Saram, Angelo Mathews, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga, Isuru Udana.